Griffin Technology Academies hope to move forward after getting ‘wake up call’ – Times-Herald

Griffin Technology Academies says it agrees with school district issues with its four charter schools and is acting in good faith to resolve the concerns.

The Vallejo City Unified School 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. If not corrected, the VCUSD Board can consider the action of sending a Notice of Intent to Revoke to one or more of the four schools — Mare Island Technology Academy middle and high schools as well as Griffin Academy middle and high schools.

“Closing any school is never taken lightly,” VCUSD Superintendent William Spalding said in a news release in April. “As the authorizer, VCUSD has the responsibility to ensure that the students of Vallejo are in a safe learning environment and fiscally responsible with taxpayer monies that have the best interests of the students and community. The pattern we have seen from Mare Island Technology Academy and Griffin Academy leadership is very disturbing.”

Spalding 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.

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 Nick Driver, who has served as GTA’s Acting Superintendent since March. “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.”

Last week Driver said progress was being made to remedy the issues.

“Lost in communication via the VCUSD press release was that GTA has been working on many of the issues outlined in the Notices of Violation and has made significant developments,” Driver told the Times-Herald. “For the past several months, GTA was acting in good faith to resolve VCUSD’s concerns. As the new Acting Superintendent, I felt encouraged with our progress and related discussions with VCUSD.”

Under the law, VCUSD can revoke the four charters if GTA has done any of the following:

• Committed a material violation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter.
• Failed to meet or pursue any of the pupil outcomes identified in the charter.
• Failed to meet generally accepted accounting principles.
• Engaged in fiscal mismanagement; and/or Violated any law (Ed. Code § 47607(f)).

“GTA did not break any laws nor violate the conditions of our charters that we did not remedy or correct,” Driver said. “Ed Code specifically allows schools and school districts the opportunity to correct issues. That is also true about accounting principles and fiscal management, we did not commit any violations that we did not correct. Education Code Section 47607(g)1 provides that charter schools must be provided a ‘reasonable opportunity to remedy the violation, unless the chartering authority determines, in writing, that the violation constitutes a severe and imminent threat to the health or safety of the pupils.’ Pursuant to the California Code of Regulations, Title 5 (“5 CCR”), Section 11968.5.2(c)(1).

“So the core question for the district and its board, as well as the community, is whether at this time, not six months ago, but now, there are existing and ongoing violations at present by GTA that have not been remedied and cannot be remedied as proposed,” Driver continued, “and that justify displacing 1,076 students and eliminating four school choice options in Vallejo. And the clear answer is no. To be clear, we agree with the District that there were missteps in GTA’s operations. But none of those missteps legally create a basis for revocation under Section 47607.”

Driver did say 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. “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. Each of our middle and high schools is bouncing back — and next year will be our best year in many years. We are so appreciative of the trust our families placed in us to educate their children.”

In its plan, GTA said that effective Wednesday, four members of the GTA Board will resign, including Lynne Vaughan, Debbie Lamb, and Jim Shorter. GTA wrote in the plan that it has recruited and will continue to recruit, new board members, including parents, community members, and those experienced in running and leading organizations. The organization elected one new board member at a May 24 meeting, and plan to elect another on June 28.

The new bylaws will prohibit former members from rejoining until they have been off the board for at least three years.

As far as safety goes, GTA said it has taken the following actions to address the issues on the campus including:

• Staff and students were immediately sent home when the investigation following mold testing uncovered the extensive nature of the problem.
• The General Contractor repairing all rooms that will be occupied, both inside and out.
• The hiring of new leadership.
• Negotiating interim housing with VCUSD at Corcoran and Beverly Hills campuses.
• Providing weekly communications with updates regarding its progress to its families, the district, its staff, and the community.

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