BCS Underserves Economically Disadvantaged Students – Letter to the SCCOE Board
TO: SCCOE Board and Staff
RE: THANK YOU for your Commitment to Achieving Diversity
Thank you for your commitment to achieving diversity in our publicly funded schools. The SCCOE staff and board have embraced the difficult challenge of “hands-on” oversight of 22 county-authorized charter schools.
SCCOE staff and Board have expressed concerns regarding the under enrollment at Bullis Charter School (BCS) of four different groups including students who are English learners, Hispanic, socioeconomically disadvantaged and students with disabilities. Although I could send you a similar email for each of the four areas of concern, this particular email is focused on just one area: socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
The data indicate that BCS is under enrolling socioeconomically disadvantaged students. For decades, the federal Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL or FRPM) program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been used as a proxy to identify economically disadvantaged students. The SCCOE 2019-20 Annual Charter Schools Data Book (1) indicates that BCS enrolls only 1% (14 out of 1,032 students) who are eligible for FRL. The physical location of BCS is in the Los Altos School District, which serves 229 FRL eligible students, out of 3,996 students, or 6%. (2).
Please see our research into how BCS under enrolls Economically Disadvantage students.
The intent of the charter act (3) suggests BCS should be serving approximately 50, or more, FRL students, or 3.5 times the number currently being served.
It is also useful to consider the economic ability of the BCS community to reach out to these students. The median annual income of the zip code of each of the 22 SCCOE chartered schools varies from $49,000 to $166,000 (4) with an average median annual income of ~$70,000. BCS is an outlier on the wealthier side in the portfolio of SCCOE chartered schools. The BCS resident community is fortunate to have an annual median income 2.4 times the average of the other 21 communities.
It seems reasonable that a charter school resident in the wealthiest community has the capacity to at least serve a proportionate number of in-district socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Ideally, BCS charter school would be setting an example of serving less advantaged students.
On a personal note, my mother grew up on a rural Norwegian speaking farm in North Dakota and learned English (ESL) in a public school. I grew up in the FRL status. Public schools prepared me to succeed in Silicon Valley. I feel we collectively have the obligation to pass-forward a similar opportunity to all of our youth, especially economically disadvantaged students.
Thank you once again for embracing the diversity in our community and ensuring equitable treatment for all students and families.
Steve Brown
page 49 https://www.lasdschools.org/files/user/1/file/Budget%20Book%202020-21.pdf
CALIFORNIA’S CHARTER SCHOOLS ACT
Legislative Intent: 47601 (b): Pupils who are eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Meals (FRM or FRPM) are correlated with “pupils who are identified as academically low achieving.” The legislative intent of the Charter Schools Act calls for “special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for pupils who are identified as academically low achieving.”
Charter Development Process: 47605 - Required Charter Elements (7): The means by which the school will achieve a racial and ethnic balance among its pupils that is reflective of the general population residing within the territorial jurisdiction of the school district to which the charter is submitted.
