5425809 Resolution 21-42, Public Charter School Priority Enrollment Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2015

A RESOLUTION

                                                        

21-42

 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

March 3, 2015         

 

 

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 to allow a public charter school to offer priority in enrollment to any students who were previously enrolled in the facility where that charter school will operate in the preceding school year; and to amend section 29-412.20 of the District of Columbia Official Code  to grant the Attorney General the authority to dissolve a nonprofit corporation organized for the purpose of operating a public charter school if the charter for the public charter school has been revoked, non-renewed, or relinquished.

 

                                                                                                                                                           

            RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Public Charter School Priority Enrollment Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2015”.

 

            Sec. 2.   (a) On October 27, 2014, D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz, in a civil case filed on behalf of the District of Columbia by the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”), ruled that Dorothy I. Height Community Academy Public Charter School (“CAPCS”) had engaged in a pattern of fiscal mismanagement and violated the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995, approved April 26, 1996 (110 Stat. 1321; D.C. Official Code § 38-1800.01 et seq.) (“SRA”) as a result of the CAPCS Board’s breach of its fiduciary duties.    Based on this litigation the staff of the Public Charter School Board (“PCSB”) informed the PCSB that there was a pattern of fiscal mismanagement because CAPCS paid 2 different entities for the same services over the course of at least 2 years,  an unreasonable amount of money was paid to Community Action Partners and Charter School Management LLC (“CAPCSM”) pursuant to the management agreement given the services that were performed, and staff founds that CAPCS was in violation of the SRA for breach of its fiduciary duties for permitting these payments to have occurred. 

            (b) On December 15, 2014, the PCSB voted to initiate charter revocation procedures on CAPCS for fiscal mismanagement; on January 27, 2015 the PCSB held a public hearing at CAPCS Amos 5 campus; on February 12, 2015, the PCSB held a special board meeting to vote on charter revocation for CAPCS and postponed the vote; and on February 19, 2015, in a special meeting the PCSB voted to revoked the charter for CAPCS effective June 30, 2015. 

            (c)  After the vote to revoke the charter of CAPCS was taken, the Deputy Mayor for Education released a joint facilities plan in collaboration with Friendship Public Charter Schools, DC Bilingual Public Charter School, and the Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools to provide continuity of education for students who are currently enrolled at one of CAPCS campuses or in its online program.  For this plan to successfully ensure that current CAPCS students who would like to continue in the current facility where they enrolled there needs to be a temporary safeguard in place to create an enrollment priority for students who wish to enroll in the public charter school operating in the school facility those students attended under the administration of CAPCS.                 

            (d) It is the intent of the Council that this preference in enrollment is only for current CAPCS students who wish to enroll in one of the new operating charters that will take over the current CAPCS buildings in school year 2015-2016.  This emergency will allow for their enrollment to be prioritized for the first year of operation under the newly authorized charter. 

            (e)  The mandatory dissolution provision will provide OAG with the power to involuntarily dissolve a nonprofit organization operating a public charter school, including the relinquishment of its current assets, if the school’s charter is revoked,  not renewed, or voluntarily relinquished.  This emergency fix is needed in order to address the possibility of CAPCS refusing to voluntarily dissolve as required by the SRA (D.C. Official Code § 38-1802.13a) after having its charter revoked by PCSB on February 19, 2015.  If CAPCS, Inc., is not dissolved, students across the 4 CAPCS campuses would not have priority access to the 2 new Friendship campuses.

 

Sec. 3.  The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Public Charter School Priority Enrollment Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 be adopted after a single reading.

 

Sec. 4.  This resolution shall take effect immediately.