L.A. board votes not to renew charters for 2 South Bay charter schools
The Los Angeles school board voted Tuesday not to renew the operating charters for two South Bay charter campuses that had been involved in a cheating scandal.
The two elementary schools, Crescendo Charter Academy in Gardena and Crescendo Charter Conservatory in Hawthorne, were among six campuses operated by Crescendo Schools, which was found to have encouraged cheating on standardized tests last year.
After a series of firings and reforms at the organization, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy last month halted charter revocation proceedings against the schools. Crescendo had agreed to be run by another charter organization, Celerity Educational Group.
At Tuesday’s meeting, a teacher at one of the Crescendo schools revealed that Sheryl Lee, a principal involved in the cheating scandal, had been hired by a Celerity school.
That prompted Deasy to say the hiring did not honor Crescendo’s agreement with the district. He reversed his recommendation to renew the charters for the two local schools, and the board voted 6-1 in accordance.
Crescendo also operates Crescendo Prep West in Gardena and three other campuses. LAUSD spokeswoman Susan Cox said it was not clear how Tuesday’s action would affect those schools but that it “it’s not looking good.”
The board directed the district’s charter school division to begin today helping parents at the two local schools find new campuses for their children to attend in fall, Cox said.
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