Published on September 27th, 2022 📆 | 1575 Views ⚑
0Griffin Technology Academies has new merondum of understanding with Vallejo City Unified School District – Times-Herald
Griffin Technology Academies and the Vallejo City Unified School District announced a memorandum of understanding in response to the school district’s notice of violation issued to the academy last spring.
According to GTA news release, this provides “benchmark remedies to guarantee transparency, accountability and a strong academic program.”
Last spring the district sent out draft Notices of Violations and Opportunity to Cure to GTA last month. A Notice of Violations is the first step in initiating charter revocation proceedings against the four charter schools.
At the time VCUSD Superintendent William Spalding’s said one of the biggest concerns was not addressing the presence of toxic mold in its buildings and holding classes for nearly a month even after the discovery of the mold.
The agreement came a week ago when the district board voted unanimously to accept Spalding’s recommended memorandum of understanding and partnership with GTA.
“Our Board is excited to continue our tireless efforts to improve our campus facilities and enhance learning options for our students,” said GTA Governing Board Chair Shawna Gilroy in a news release. “Moreover, we are looking forward to working in partnership with Superintendent Spalding and members of the VCUSD Board to address and resolve their outstanding concerns.”
According to the agreement the following will take place:
- GTA and VCUSD have agreed to work together – all discussions of closure have been taken off the table for the next 11 months. All GTA schools are open and educating students.
- GTA and VCUSD have established benchmarks to resolve the remaining concerns issued in the original Notices of Violation. This “blueprint” provides VCUSD and the entire school community with the assurance that GTA is moving in a positive direction for students.
- GTA and its four schools have made significant progress in five critical areas since VCUSD issued its concerns for our schools via the Notices of Violation.
- GTA’s Board of Directors approved the GTA 1800 Pathway Forward Plan to highlight remedies already taken in the five areas (academic program, facilities, student and school accountability, finances, and governance) as well as measures GTA is taking to guarantee transparency.
- Over the summer, GTA announced a series of board and administrative appointments. Each new board and team member brings to GTA a unique wealth of experience in athletics, education, administrative duties, and leadership skills.
- GTA has provided Superintendent Spalding, the VCUSD board, and the school community with regular progress reports on what school officials have done to improve the learning environment for students and staff. All three GTA campuses have been transformed into safe and learning-conducive campuses so that we can best serve Vallejo’s diverse student population.
“As Superintendent, it’s my job to keep our promise to GTA families,” said GTA Superintendent Nick Driver. “I recognize that Vallejo parents made a conscious decision to send their children to GTA schools. These families recognize that our schools have provided, and continue to provide, a safe, supportive, engaging, and challenging learning environment. We’re making a strong, positive comeback and I’m confident in the direction moving forward.”
On June 6, administrators, teachers, and students of Griffin Technology Academies submitted the school’s response to the Notices of Violation. That same day GTA’s Governing Board of Directors approved the legal presentation and the Pathway Forward plan which features five priorities — Government/Leadership, Budget/Finance, Instructional Programming, Accountability for Student Results and Safe Facilities.
“I’m encouraged our Pathway Forward plan will provide VCUSD and the entire GTA school community with the confidence that our schools are moving in a positive direction for our students,” said Driver earlier this year. “For the past three months, our administrative team has worked tirelessly with VCUSD as well as experts in various fields to remedy the numerous errors made by previous GTA administrations.”
Driver said earlier this year that progress was being made to remedy the issues but also added that the school community became distracted for the past several years and that the pandemic and failed school leadership “knocked us off our game” and said the situation was a “big wake-up call.”
“While continuing to make great strides academically, our organization as a whole should have done better responding,” Driver said in a news release earlier this year. “GTA neglected our current campus sites. We stopped recognizing and appreciating our great teachers. And, we failed to engage our families about the great things happening at our schools. It’s my job to deliver on our promise to GTA families, and to the entire Vallejo community — to learn from previous mistakes and become a stronger organization going forward.”
Gloss