Durham charter school was on the brink of closing. Why it got a second chance.
A longtime Durham charter school will stay open after having previously been ordered to close at the end of the school year.
The N.C. Charter Schools Review Board voted Monday to give a three-year renewal to the Community School of Digital and Visual Arts in return for a list of requirements the school’s leaders must meet. The Review Board had previously voted in January to not renew the school when its charter expires June 30.
“There’s just basic things you’ve got to do to earn the trust of the people around you,” Eric Sanchez, a member of the Review Board said Monday. “If this isn’t the big scare of your life, it should be.”
The renewal requirements include:
▪ Present a governance, academic and financial report to the Review Board at a minimum of once a year.
▪ Provide monthly meeting minutes of the school’s board of directors to the Office of Charter Schools.
▪ Submit the annual audit on time.
▪ All members of the Community School’s board will go through a minimum of two trainings a year and provide documentation in its annual report.
▪ Provide monthly updates to the Office of Charter Schools regarding the school’s potential move.
School cited for poor governance
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are exempt from some of the rules that traditional public schools must follow. There are more than 200 charter schools open across North Carolina.
The Community School of Digital and Visual Arts is one of the state’s oldest charter schools. It opened in 1998 and was previously called Carter Community School.
The Community School is locally run, unlike some charter schools that have the resources of large for-profit companies to rely on.
Charter schools can be closed or can be renewed for between three and 10 years due to their academic, financial and governance performance.
The Review Board had cited issues such as the school not having financial audits for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years and not posting full and accurate board minutes. The late audit reports have since been filed.
‘Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water’
The Community School appealed the non-renewal to the State Board of Education, citing the school’s academic track record. The school exceeded academic growth expectations on state exams last school year and met growth targets the prior two years.
The state board voted in March to ask the Review Board to reconsider its non-renewal decision.
On Monday, Community School’s leaders presented a restructuring plan designed to address the Review Board’s concerns.
“Please don’t throw out the baby with the bath water,” Joe Battle, chair of the Community School’s board, told the Review Board. “But don’t lose sight of the good work that we’re doing and the hard-to-serve communities we’re reaching.”
Review board members accepted the plan but said it shouldn’t have take this long, especially for such a long-running charter school, to address the problems.
“Why did it take this process for attentions to be grabbed?” said Bruce Friend, chair of the Review Board. “I hope we don’t have to do this again, not just with this school but with any school.”
