The Department of Public Instruction hand-delivered a letter today to Dynamic Community Charter school officials stating its intention to revoke the school’s charter.
It had seemed that the school and the State Board of Education were on course to find a compromise that would allow the school to stay open, but the letter today makes clear that is no longer an option. The decision turns on interviews and site visits that have shed new light on the school, the letter states.
“The information gathered pursuant to the interviews and site visits has raised numerous concerns about the capacity of Dynamic to move forward in a way that is consistent with the law and conducive to a safe learning environment for the students,” the letter states.
The Board initially voted March 5 to revoke the school’s charter based on worries that the school wasn’t able to educate the students effectively.
The school serves children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Board was focused in particular on the school’s education of students on the autistic disorders spectrum, the letter states.
The school requested a review of the Board’s decision, but prior to that review, the school sought the possibility of an alternative solution. The Department of Public Instruction agreed and developed conditions the school had to meet in order to continue operations.
The letter states that since that agreement, interviews with present and former staff, and the parents of a former student (all of whom came forward on their own, according to the letter) prompted further investigation of the school.
Some of the concerns raised by the interviews include:
- Instruction that was not designed specifically for the school population
- Students put in or left in unsafe situations
- Lack of health care plans for students
- Teacher assistants serving in inappropriate capacities
- Administration given “scripts” on how to interact with DPI staff “to divert attention from the true practices that were actually occurring;”
In addition, the letter states that “…the investigation revealed a number of instances in which leadership at the school has been untruthful in their dealing with the Department…”
We’re seeking comment from Dynamic now, and EdNC will update this article with any response.
