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SF school board adopts staff recommendation and denies Rocketship San Francisco charter petition
Summary
The San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education voted Aug. 9, 2011, to adopt staff findings and deny a new charter petition from Rocketship Education, citing deficiencies in the petition’s description of its educational program and operations. Petition representatives were present to answer questions but the board voted 6–0 to accept staff’s recommendation.
The San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education voted Aug. 9 to adopt staff findings and deny the new charter petition for Rocketship San Francisco, a proposed K–5 campus, after a staff review concluded the petition did not provide a reasonably comprehensive description of key program and operational elements.
Mary Richards, the staff designee who read the amended resolution into the record, said the recommendation reflected a full review of the petition and supporting materials and noted the petitioners’ request for a decision tonight to allow planning for a 2013–14 opening. Richards read the amended resolution (Resolution 100-16-28 SP1) concluding, in the board’s resolution language, that “the Charter School presents an unsound educational program for the pupils to be enrolled” and that the petitioners were “demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program set forth in the petition.”
Evan Cohen, manager of regional policy for Rocketship Education, told the board, “we're here tonight, to answer any questions the board or superintendent may have,” and offered to respond to commissioners’ concerns.
Board members praised staff for a detailed factual analysis and raised substantive questions about program readiness, including services for English learners. On the staff recommendation the board voted by roll call; recorded responses totaled six ayes and the recommendation to deny the petition was adopted.
The decision resolved the district’s review under the timeline cited in the agenda. Petitioners and district staff are on the record as available to answer follow-up questions; the board took no additional administrative direction at the meeting regarding further appeal or next procedural steps.
