Notice of Intent to Revoke and Notice of Facts in Support of Revocation

educational program, by the specified timelines. The Addendum also directs FAME toimplement “self-policing and accountability measures” including: Comprehensive training of FAME board members and administrators on the obligationsof the charter; Comprehensive training of FAME board members and administrators on governance andoperational requirements, including Brown Act, conflicts of interest, best governancepractices, and the state’s transparency laws including the Public Records Act; Conducting an annual compliance audit addressing the charter, MOU and major areas ofapplicable law; and Preparing a thorough assessment of the educational program to demonstrate fullcompliance of the instructional program areas identified in the Notice of Violation.The compliance audit and the assessment of the educational program have been conducted andare discussed below.Failure to fully implement the Written Action Plan within the agreed-upon timelinesallows ACOE to begin revocation proceedings without further “progressive notification ofcorrective action”. The Addendum also states that: “Any violation of the provisions of thisMOU may also serve as the basis for revocation as per section three (3) above.” Monitoring ofimplementation of the Written Action Plan is described in Section 4.d. of the Addendum:FAME shall contract with a third-party mutually agreed upon with ACOE to conduct athorough assessment of FAME’s educational program every six (6) months for the nextyear to demonstrate full compliance with its charter in the original ten (10) instructionalprogram areas identified in the Notice of Violation. The third-party evaluator willproduce a comprehensive written report, which shall be transmitted to the County Boardand ACOE staff for its review.In November 2012, FAME entered into a contract with Barbara J. Wagner to conduct thereview required by this section. The scope of work, approved by ACOE, included documentreview, multiple site visits, meetings with FAME’s Educational Leadership Team, presentationsto the FAME governing board and written progress reports. The scope called for the completionof the review at the end of February, with a presentation to the Board at its meeting of March 12,2013.Notice of Intent to Revoke Page 2 March 12, 2013

(3) Failed to meet generally-accepted accounting principles, or engaged in fiscalmismanagement; or(4) Violated any provision of law.The charter-authorizing agency precedes revocation with a Notice of Violation and areasonable opportunity to remedy the violation under Education Code §47607(d):Prior to revocation, the authority that granted the charter shall notify the charter publicschool of any violation of this section and give the school a reasonable opportunity toremedy the violation, unless the authority determines, in writing, that the violationconstitutes a severe and imminent threat to the health or safety of the pupils.Prior to revocation, the charter-authorizing agency provides the charter school with aNotice of Intent to Revoke, and conducts a public hearing on the potential revocation (EducationCode §47607(e)). The Charter school may appeal the revocation to the State Board (EducationCode §47607(g)).These revocation provisions have been recently amended to add the following provision:The authority that granted the charter shall consider increases in pupil academicachievement for all groups served by the charter school as the most important factor indetermining whether to revoke a charter.The amendment defines “all groups of pupils served by the charter schools” as “numericallysignificant pupil subgroups” in the following categories: ethnic subgroups, socioeconomicallydisadvantaged pupils, English learners and pupils with disabilities.The California Code of Regulations describes the charter school’s obligations once aNotice of Violation is served:Upon receipt of a Notice of Violation, the charter school’s governing body as described inthe school’s charter, if it chooses to respond, shall take the following actions:(1) Submit to the chartering authority a detailed, written response addressing eachidentified violation which shall include the refutation, remedial action taken, orNotice of Intent to Revoke Page 4 March 12, 2013

o FAME has not fully implemented this element of the Written Action Plan at this time.To fully implement Component 10, FAME needs to:o Develop assessment procedures for induction, intervention, and reclassificationfrom EL,o Implement a common formative assessment to monitor student progress (e.g.,ADEPT).Ms. Wagner’s findings provide substantial evidence of FAME’s failure to remedy, in themanner specifically agreed, the violations concerning implementation of the FAME educationalprogram. Through document review, site visits, meetings and classroom observations, Ms.Wagner examined FAME’s progress, providing opportunities for the charter school todemonstrate that the outcomes in the Written Action Plan had been achieved.ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONSIn making the decision to issue a Notice of Intent to Revoke the County Board consideredthe record of student achievement of FAME, including numerically significant subgroups ofstudents served by the charter school as the most important factor. In the case of FAME, theavailable data covers the entire school, including both independent study students and students inclassroom-based programs. These groups are likely to have different demographic and academicperformance characteristics. Nonetheless, review of the combined student data indicates that theschool has made little progress in the past three (3) years and that some student subgroupspersistently under-performed (Latino, African-American, socioeconomically disadvantaged,English learners and students with disabilities) relative to the whole school.The County Board also considered the likelihood that FAME would be able to fullyimplement the Written Action Plan if given additional time to do so. The findings of thecompliance audit and recent compliance-related complaints provided evidence of organizationalchallenges that are likely to impede progress with respect to the educational program. Thesechallenges include the lack of a professional Executive Director or CEO, instability of boardmembership, absence of consistent governance focus on the Written Action Plan and studentachievement, and lack of meaningful involvement by teachers and parents.CONCLUSIONNotice of Intent to Revoke Page 7 March 12, 2013

Through its charter renewal process, the Notice of Violation, and the negotiation of theAddendum and the Written Action Plan, FAME Public Charter School has been given numerousopportunities to take the necessary steps to completely realize the educational program in theapproved charter. Having now failed to fully implement the agreed steps in that plan, FAMEmust be held accountable through revocation of the charter for “…committing a materialviolation of any of the conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter,” EducationCode §47607(c).Signed:________________________________________Yvonne CerratoPresident, Alameda County Board of EducationDate:________________________________________Notice of Intent to Revoke Page 8 March 12, 2013