In a dramatic vote, county board blocks LAUSD takeover of Locke High
In a dramatic turn, a county board has rejected an effort by the Los Angeles Unified School District to retake control of Locke High charter school in Watts, allowing an outside nonprofit to continue to run the campus based on the “best interest” of students.After nearly two hours of consideration, the decision came down to a vote by members of the L.A.County Board of Education.
The outcome was unknown until the tally flashed onto screens in the front of the meeting room in Downey.Before the vote, three board members had spoken in support of the outside group — Green Dot Public Schools — and two against it.
The outcome would hinge on the decision of the two board members who did not indicate how they were leaning.Adding to the apprehension was that Tuesday evening the graduation ceremony for Alain LeRoy Locke College Preparatory Academy was unfolding at the same time the board considered its future.
The Locke community was split between two emotional events.When the votes were cast, Green Dot prevailed.By a 5-2 vote, the board rejected the evaluation of county’s own staff, which had sided with an L.A.
school district characterization of the school as “chronically underperforming.” California LAUSD wants to take back Locke high school from Green Dot after two decades.Officials say the charter school is failing; defenders want a closer look at data.The room erupted with cheers among Green Dot well-wishers who had packed the room by the dozens.“I want to come back next year to the school that has shaped me into who I am,” said 11th grader Genesis Castorena, before the vote.
“Locke is not just a building.It is the people inside it.”For board president James Cross disrupting the education of some 1,000 Locke students was an issue.
L.A.Unified, which denied the school’s charter renewal, would have had to create a new school from scratch on the Locke campus in about two months.
About $7 million in Green Dot/Locke-specific grants would not ca...