East Side Union trustees deny renewal of Esquea Popular adult charter, citing program and governance gaps

East Side Union High School District trustees voted April 13 to deny renewal of the Esquea Popular Center for Training and Careers (EPCTC) charter, adopting staff findings that cited unresolved academic, recordkeeping and governance deficiencies.

District staff explained at length why they recommended nonrenewal, saying audits of transcripts, attendance reporting, credentialing and course-scheduling practices produced repeated discrepancies. “The current petition does expire June 30, 2026,” staff noted while urging the board to adopt written findings supporting denial if it concluded the petitioners were demonstrably unlikely to implement the program as filed.

Staff highlighted several areas of concern: a mismatch between the charter’s self-reported data and state dashboard figures; inconsistent graduation-rate calculations (district staff said one-year and four-year cohort measures diverged); attendance and ADA-reporting problems, including instances where students were marked present when other records indicated absence; course scheduling and “pre-9th” or remedial placement practices that appear in school documents but not the petition; and multiple transcript-audit issues such as incorrect enrollment/exit dates and unreliable credit allocation.

The district’s legal staff also flagged governance problems, including agendas and key documents not translated for a predominantly Spanish-speaking community, an absence of an anti‑nepotism policy where close relatives hold executive and board roles, frequent recusals from closed sessions, and instances of remote participation that the district said may have violated Brown Act rules.

Esquea Popular’s lawyer, Ellen Dodie, disputed the district’s legal framing and some factual claims. “The standard that district staff used in the staff report … is inaccurate and does not apply to EPCTC,” Dodie told trustees, arguing that as a dashboard-alternative-school (DAS) EPCTC is evaluated under mutually agreed alternative metrics and that district notices did not follow the 30‑day cure process required for some denial theories.

Executive Director Patricia Reguid and school principal Olivia Cortez urged trustees to preserve the program and allow more collaborative remediation time. “We wouldn’t exist without the support of the board and the staff,” Reguid said, describing Esquea Popular’s 40‑year history serving adult English learners and offering wraparound services (child care, evening programs) that she said are not readily available elsewhere.

Dozens of alumni, students, teachers and family members gave public comment, recounting life‑changing outcomes from classes at Esquea Popular and urging the board to either approve renewal or provide more time to resolve compliance issues.

After legal and procedural questions from trustees about how a denial would affect appeals and funding, one trustee moved to adopt staff’s recommendation to deny renewal. The motion passed with a recorded tally of four yes votes and one abstention; the board adopted the staff findings as its written factual basis for nonrenewal.

The board also heard and approved some material-revision requests from Esquea Popular (see separate item), but staff recommended against authorizing a new CTE pathway at this time, saying the district had not yet seen sufficient evidence that the school can operate its core program in full compliance before layering on an expanded career-technical program.

The denial triggers statutory appeal options to the county and the state; counsel and staff said the charter’s current term would expire June 30, 2026, absent a successful appeal or other administrative intervention. District and petitioner counsel differed on whether some nonrenewal grounds required prior 30‑day notice and an opportunity to cure; Esquea Popular’s attorney said the district had not complied with that process in some instances and warned the legal standard and timeline would be front-and-center in any appeal.

Trustees concluded the special meeting by reiterating a commitment to students and families and urging continued engagement between district staff and Esquea Popular leadership while the parties consider next steps.