(NAME-MCE) HSRA-LA Needs Your Help!!!

[Kyle Meador]

HSRA-LA Needs Your Help!!!

High School for Recording Arts Los Angeles (http://losangeles.hsra.org/) needs your help! This school, also known as Media Arts Academy Centinela (MAAC) just had it’s charter yanked by Centinela Valley Union High School District CVUHSD (http://www.centinela.k12.ca.us/) without notice!

MAAC is among the newest schools to become part a member of the CES Small Schools Network (http://www.essentialschools.org/pub/ces_docs/ssp/ssp.html) receiving mentoring, coaching and professional development support from CES Mentor School High School for Recording Arts (http://www.ceschangelab.org/cs/clpub/view/ces_sp/695).

Read yesterday’s LA Times story (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hiphop10-2008jul10,0,465578.story) about the further institutional neglect being inflicted on students who were among the most neglected before finding a home at MAAC - academic failures, most of them, kicked out of school after school, allowed to fail their way from one grade to the next who finally  discovered “a place that is quirky enough and rough hewn, but one where students are given the motivation to learn.” Also watch yesterday’s local ABC News story (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/media?id=6258044).

Watch this video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=zJJlpmZf-Q8) to find out what you can do to help, learn more about the violations being made by the CVUHSD, and to here the passionate pleas of students who are fighting for a school that has according to one student “has really given us a chance to have an opportunity in life” and to another, “If it wasn’t for this school, I’d be under where you walk at
 to me it’s just another chance at living”.

Background
The Media Arts Academy Centinela (MAAC) applied for a public charter in June of 2003.  Page 36 of MAAC’s charter, which was signed by the Centinela Valley Union High School District (CVUHSD), states: “The term of this charter shall begin on the first day of instructional operations and will expire five years thereafter.”  MAAC opened its doors for instruction in September of 2004.  In a notice dated June 28, 2007, the California Department of Education (CDE) notified the Media Arts Academy Centinela that its charter does not expire until June of 2009.

Violation by the CVUHSD
On July 3rd, 2008, MAAC received a letter from Centinela Valley District contradicting the charter agreement and the CDE’s notification, stating that MAAC’s charter was “terminated without renewal effective June 30, 2008”.  The school was not notified or warned of any action by the District prior to the closing.  MAAC’s director, Dr. Jennifer Murphy, was present at a CVUHSD school board meeting to discuss a facilities grant on June 24, 2008.  The school board therefore had ample evidence that MAAC intended to be in session during the 2008-2009 school year.

Precedence Being Set? Closing Charter Schools Down on a Moment’s Notice
CVUHSD is directly challenging the Public Charter Schools right to exist.  CVUHSD is clearly violating Article VII of the charter agreement between MAAC and CVUHSD and is in essence stating that districts can change dates of written notifications and close school doors on a moment’s notice.  This action in effect, has sent the lives of 160 students and their families in disarray, further lending to inconsistency and lack of a nurturing environment in student education.  The after effects could spread to many community and charter schools across the state, leading to future closures, leaving many of our students and communities without the educational structures we've long labored to create.

The Response
On Tuesday, July 8th, with only four hours notification, over 80 students and staff presented themselves at the CVUHSD Board Meeting.  Their voices and stories of transformation fell upon non-empathetic ears.  CVUHSD has made no promise to re-evaluate their decision or explain the contradiction between their actions and MAAC’s charter agreement.  MAAC has waged a publicity and legal campaign to ensure the survival of its operations and follow through with its commitment to students and families.

MAAC’s Success
MAAC has an attendance rate of over 92%, despite the fact that 60% of current students had severe attendance problems and/or were expelled from neighboring schools.  The State set a goal of a 21 point increase in MAAC’s API scores for 2006-2007.  MAAC radically exceeded this goal by 139% with an increase of 151 points.  MAAC surpasses Compton, L.A. Unified, and Centinela Valley District’s graduation rate by 27.3%.  MAAC has a maximum of classroom ratios of 25 to 1 and a full recording studio for students to learn and express themselves with.  MAAC is equipped with cutting edge technology, a 1:1 student to computer ratio, and a rigorous college preparatory curriculum.  MAAC focuses on project based learning, with instructors of each class creating interdisciplinary curriculum that relates subject content to the real world.  MAAC is open to the public and is an educational and nurturing environment open to youth from all communities throughout the city, providing a place where they can grow in a supportive environment.

Find out what you can do to help!


In solidarity,

Kyle Meador
Program Associate, School Development
Coalition of Essential Schools (CES)