PUSD Warns Charter School

By Caroline An

PASADENA – A letter from Pasadena School District officials to administrators of a local charter school accuses the school of failing to provide textbooks and allowing students to nod off at their desks during lessons, among other problems.

But Onochie Chukwurah, executive director of Rhythms of the Village Charter School, denied students are not being taught and said he intends to respond to each point contained in the district’s five-page letter, sent last month.

“We are not just sitting around here,” he said.

In the letter, Superintendent Edwin Diaz asked Rhythms administrators to provide documentation on teachers’ credentials, how the charter is preparing students for the state exit exam and to document its enrollment.

Michelle McClowry, assistant superintendent of business, said the school also must provide financial records for the current school year and a long-range financial recovery plan.

Rhythms has until March 12 to submit the documents.

District officials also allege the school has not provided students with state-approved textbooks. Also, during site- inspections, district officials found students “with their heads down on their desks during class time,” the letter stated.

The allegations are serious enough to warrant a review by the district’s school board, which could revoke the school’s charter unless corrections are made, officials said.

“This is the beginning process and one that could ultimately lead to the revocation,” board President Esteban Lizardo said.

Chukwurah disputed many of the letter’s allegations. He said also that the school is working to fix other problems and that officials plan to submit the requested documentation next week.

“I am not worried, and I am very optimistic,” he said.

He said the site visits occured on Fridays, an “elective day,” when arts and music are the focus of instruction at the charter school.

Chukwurah conceded the school has never met its enrollment goal of about 200 students, a fact that has impacted its funding, which is based on per-pupil attendance.

As of Friday, he said, the school had approximately 60 students.

Chukwurah said the school needs to enroll at lest 20 additional students to remain at its site on the campus of the former Edison School, which Rhythms shares with another charter school, the Nia Educational Charter School.

In November 2007, district officials sent a similar letter to Rhythms administrators. It, too, contained concerns about the school’s finances and attendance.

McClowry said conditions at the school “have not changed” since November.

“I am trying to follow the rules and protect the district from financial liability,” said McClowry.

caroline.an@sgvn.com

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