Report 2016-141 Recommendation 11 Responses

Report 2016-141: Charter Schools: Some School Districts Improperly Authorized and Inadequately Monitored Out‑of‑District Charter Schools (Release Date: October 2017)

Recommendation #11 To: Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District

To ensure that it has a method to hold charter schools accountable for their educational programs, Acton-Agua Dulce Unified should, as a best practice, strengthen its authorization process by using the State Education Board's criteria for evaluating petitions.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022

On October 13, 2022, the District's Board of Trustees adopted an updated charter school policy (submitted with this response). At the beginning of the section on Charter Petition Review, it commits the District to applying the SBE's criteria for charter petition review: "The District's review of charter petitions is guided first and foremost by the Charter Schools Act. Any amendments to the Act or any other statutes that are relevant to charter petition review will be immediately incorporated into the District's petition review process. The District also follows the California Department of Education's regulations on charter schools contained in Title 5, Division, 1, Chapter 11, Subchapter 19 of the California Code of Regulations (5 CCR section section 11960 et seq.), and in particular the District uses the State Board of Education's criteria for evaluating charter petitions contained in 5 CCR section 11967.5.1 to the extent these regulations do not conflict with more recent amendments to the Charter Schools Act."

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

Acton-Agua Dulce Unified has added a reference to the SBE's criteria in its charter school policy and updated its matrix to incorporate SBE criteria.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021

The District has always used the State Board of Education's criteria for evaluating charter petitions. On August 11, 2021, the District's Board adopted an updated "matrix," or checklist, to help guide charter petition review that contains all of the SBE's criteria as found in Title 5, Section 11967.5.1 of the California Code of Regulations. The updated matrix was prepared through the collaboration of the Butte County Office of Education, Shasta County Office of Education, and the Charter Accountability and Resources Network (CARSNET). The updated matrix is submitted with this response.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented

Although Acton-Agua Dulce Unified has made progress in aligning its petition matrix with the State Board of Education's criteria, it is still missing some elements. Specifically, the petition's matrix does not specifically require charter petitions to submit a preliminary list of offenses for which students in the charter school must and may be suspended or expelled. In addition, it does not require charter petitions to outline how detailed policies and procedures regarding suspension and expulsion will be developed and periodically reviewed.

Further, Acton-Agua Dulce Unified continues to make optional certain elements of the State Board of Education's criteria related to independent audits and the State Teachers' Retirement System. By noting that these elements are not required under law, but "strongly suggested to be included to ensure that the petition is reasonably comprehensive," Acton-Agua Dulce Unified's matrix does not align with the State Board of Education's criteria, which defines these details as elements that should be required "at a minimum" to be considered reasonably comprehensive.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2020

The Charter office has revised and updated the Matrix to include all changes in charter school law, and the Matrix continues to incorporate the SBE's evaluation criteria.

The District's Charter Review Matrix has always incorporated the State Board of Education's criteria for evaluating petitions. The Matrix that is currently in use is completed, and shared with the Board for its review and consideration before the Board takes action on a charter petition.

The current District's Charter School Policy states that the District's charter review process, including its Matrix, incorporates the State Board of Education criteria (pg. 6) and the Matrix in fact incorporates the SBE criteria. The Charter School Policy also states that charter petitions must include a reasonably comprehensive description of, among other things, "(B) Measurable pupil outcomes, including the extent to which all pupils demonstrate that they have attained the skills, knowledge, and attitudes specified as goals for school wide and subgroups and as aligned to state and school priorities This Recommendation has been fully implemented.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: No Action Taken

The district failed to provide evidence supporting its assertions.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2019

The District refers the State Auditor to its October 2018 response: "The District's Charter Review Matrix has always incorporated the State Board of Education's criteria for evaluating petitions. Staff completes the Matrix and shares it with the Board for its review and consideration before the Board takes action on a charter petition. The District has revised and updated the Matrix to include all changes in charter school law, and the Matrix continues to incorporate the SBE's evaluation criteria. The AADUSD Board of Trustees approved the new Matrix on October 11, 2018."

In the State Auditor's 2018 comments, it claims that the District "did not fully address several of the elements required by the State Board of Education's criteria for evaluating petitions." As is apparent from the State Auditor's 2018 comments for multiple Recommendations, the State Auditor has only identified two items: that measurable pupil outcomes address increases in pupil academic achievement schoolwide and for all groups of pupils, and that pupil outcomes align to state priorities. The State Auditor alleges that the District's charter petition review process does not consider these two items. That is incorrect.

The District's Charter School Policy states that the District's charter review process, including its Matrix, incorporates the State Board of Education criteria (pg. 6) and the Matrix in fact incorporates the SBE criteria. The Charter School Policy also states that charter petitions must include a reasonably comprehensive description of, among other things, "(B) Measurable pupil outcomes, including the extent to which all pupils demonstrate that they have attained the skills, knowledge, and attitudes specified as goals for school wide and subgroups and as aligned to state and school priorities." The State Auditor's 2018 response to Recommendation 12 acknowledged this. This Recommendation has been fully implemented.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: No Action Taken

The district did not provide any new evidence to support its assertions. As we note on page 34 of our audit report, the Legislature recognized that the term "reasonably comprehensive" is somewhat subjective, and it required the State Education Board to establish criteria for evaluating charter school petitions. Because we observed weaknesses in the authorization process of all three districts, including Acton-Agua Dulce Unified, we recommended that the districts should strengthen their authorization process by using the State Education Board's criteria for evaluating petitions.

Although the district's previously provided policy states that its matrix "incorporates best practices and the State Board of Education's criteria for charter petition review," the matrix sections related to "reasonably comprehensive" descriptions has remained mostly unchanged since the time of our audit, in which we noted that the district's policy and matrix were weaker than the State Education Board's criteria in 7 of the 16 areas we reviewed. The district has not made any significant updates to these particular sections, and thus it cannot demonstrate that it has incorporated any of the State Education Board's criteria since the time of our audit. In fact, we noted one instance in which the district's matrix actually weakened its requirements. Specifically, the district removed one of its previous criteria that required petitions to include a "process for resolving audit exceptions to satisfaction of granting agencies". Because the district did not provide any evidence of its incorporation of the State Education Board's criteria, we conclude that no action has been taken.

1-Year Agency Response

- The District's Charter Review Matrix has always incorporated the State Board of Education's criteria for evaluating petitions. Staff completes the Matrix and shares it with the Board for its review and consideration before the Board takes action on a charter petition. The District has revised and updated the Matrix to include all changes in charter school law, and the Matrix continues to incorporate the SBE's evaluation criteria. The AADUSD Board of Trustees approved the new Matrix on October 11, 2018.

Implementation Date: December 12, 2013.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: No Action Taken

Although Acton-Agua Dulce Unified states that it fully implemented our recommendation, our audit determined that the district's charter school policy did not fully address several of the elements required by the State Education Board's criteria for evaluating petitions. In addition, the updated Charter Review Matrix does not make any reference to the State Education Board's criteria nor does it contain the 2013 amendments to state law regarding measurable student outcomes. Specifically, state law requires that pupil outcomes include outcomes that address increases in pupil academic achievement both schoolwide and for all groups of pupils served by the charter school. State law also requires pupil outcomes to align with state priorities.

6-Month Agency Response

AADUSD has a principal point of contact between the district and its charter schools to handle both routine and formal communications. A representative physically visits all district charter school sites at least once during the school year. AADUSD is in its first year of implementing Epicenter, an online resource used to collect all charter school reporting requirements. Charter schools prepare an Annual Charter School Review Document to compare data year over year, a yearly meeting is conducted with charter staff to review the FCMAT annual oversight checklist, and a report is taken to the district's governing board to review the charters' program and progress.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

Although Acton-Agua Dulce Unified stated that it fully implemented our recommendation, the district did not provide any new evidence to support its assertion.

60-Day Agency Response

District Staff has continued to implement a rigorous review process for all charter petitions submitted for approval, renewal, or material revision. A Charter Review Matrix is used which covers all elements of Education Code 47605 and incorporates the State Board of Education's standards for assessing charter petitions contained at Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, Section 11967.5.1. The Staff's recommendation and the completed Matrix are submitted to the Board for its review and consideration before the Board takes action.

The District's existing policy and practice is to provide charter schools with timely feedback and recommendations regarding academic performance. The District's annual charter school oversight report addresses academic performance. The District visits sites or participates in online classes at least annually for each charter, as well as, looks at state and benchmark data. The District is incorporating steps for working with charter schools with poor performance results.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken

Although Acton-Agua Dulce Unified states that it fully implemented our recommendation, our audit determined that the district's charter school policy did not fully address several of the elements required by the State Education Board's criteria for evaluating petitions. In addition, the referenced Charter Review Matrix does not make any reference to the State Education Board's criteria nor does it require petitions to include all of the elements listed within the matrix. Further, the district did not provide any new evidence to support its assertion.

All Recommendations in 2016-141

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.