‘Leaner, meaner’ Durham charter school praised for changes made after diploma scandal
Updated FEb. 6, 2020 with State Board of Education vote.
A Durham charter school that was nearly forced to close in 2017 because of a scandal over improperly issued diplomas is now getting praise for the changes it has made.
Kestrel Heights School had to make major academic and financial changes in 2017 after the State Board of Education ordered it to close its high school program and only gave it a three-year renewal on its charter. The school kept its K-8 program running and drew praise Nov. 13 from state charter school leaders who are considering how long now to renew its charter.
“I think you’ve come through stronger,” Steven Walker, vice chairman of the N.C. Charter Schools Advisory Board, said Nov. 13. “You’re leaner, meaner. I really think this is a success story of a charter school that went through a rough patch and is now going strong.”
The advisory board voted to recommend giving Kestrel Heights the maximum 10-year renewal allowed under state law. State charter school officials are recommending a five-year renewal.
The State Board of Education voted Feb. 6 to give Kestrel a five-year renewal. Ignite Innovation Academy in Greenville is the only one of the 19 schools whose charters are expiring in 2020 who is not being renewal by state officials.
Charter schools are taxpayer funded schools that are exempt from some of the rules and regulations that traditional public schools must follow. There are 198 charter schools open across the state.
Kestrel Heights found itself under extreme scrutiny in the 2016-17 school year when an internal investigation determined 160 of its 399 graduates since 2008 had been awarded diplomas despite not meeting state requirements.
Kestrel Heights appealed the loss of the high school program but did not prevail.
Mark Tracy, Kestrel Height’s executive director, detailed Wednesday changes that have been made since 2017, such as laying off staff now that it has 504 students, half of what it had in 2015.
The school also renegotiated the leases it was paying, including for a high school building it no longer uses.
Tracy thanked the advisory board for not having recommended in 2017 that the school also lose its K-8 program.
“When we were here several years ago, there was tremendous issues at Kestrel Heights and with much risk and critique, you all gave us an opportunity to continue to provide a quality education for our scholars, kindergarten through eighth grade,” Tracy said. “We recognize and respect that was a risk for you as a board, but we truly appreciated and took advantage of this opportunity.”
Walker noted Wednesday how Kestrel Heights is academically outperforming Durham Public Schools overall on state exams. Last school year, Kestrel had a C school performance grade, with 52% of its students passing state exams compared to 49% for Durham.
“We are not satisfied whatsoever with our academic performance,” Tracy said. “We are OK with it in relationship to the LEA (Durham Public Schools), but we feel we should be an A and a B school.
“We want to prove your decision and we want to make sure our children and our scholars and our families have a quality education. And that’s what we’re excited to do each and every day at Kestrel.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 4:40 PM.
