By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma City charter high school on Wednesday received a final order to shut down.
Proud To Partner Leadership Academy’s founding charter contract is now canceled and its state funding cut off following a unanimous vote from the Statewide Charter School Board. The state board has been scrutinizing the school for months over financial, operational and academic quality concerns.
The school, known as PTPLA, has 10 days to file an appeal to the state board and, if rejected, could take the matter to district court. PTPLA Superintendent Dawn Bowles said the school’s governing board hasn’t decided yet whether to file an appeal.
She said her school board will meet in the coming days to determine next steps. The school board met Tuesday evening and authorized its attorneys to negotiate with the state on closure proceedings.
State board Chairperson Brian Shellem said both slides already have had a conversation, but he declined to share what happened. What remains now, he said, is the 10-day appeal period.
“They have their due process rights,” he said. “We’ve honored those due process rights. We respect those due process rights. So, it’s up to them what they want to do.”
During PTPLA’s school board meeting Tuesday evening, board President Sharri Coleman contended the school was unfairly targeted despite addressing all of the state’s concerns. She accused the news media of biased coverage and contended the state’s actions were “steeped in the ideology of whiteness.”
“Hear me clearly,” she said. “The work is not over. We will continue to build, continue to pour, continue to believe and continue to fight for children who deserve to be seen, heard, challenged and loved. PTPLA is more than this school building. Proud to Partner is a movement.”
Students attending the southwest Oklahoma City school now face the prospect of returning to their local school districts or finding another educational option. Of the 100 attending the school, 35 will graduate with their high school diplomas this week, Bowles said.
PTPLA’s last day of school was Tuesday. Bowles said the school told students and their families “that no matter the outcome, we are still committed to helping them and providing whatever resources they may need.”
“Many (students) are running away from the school building on the last day, but ours are asking, ‘How do we come back?’” Bowles said during her school board meeting Tuesday. “Even as we are in this space and waiting for some final decisions from the Statewide Charter School Board, we’re in a space where families, children are looking to run to us rather than run away from us, and that speaks volumes to what we have accomplished here.”
In its final order, the Statewide Charter School Board approved a list of findings of fact from a multi-day termination hearing on PTPLA.
It determined the school didn’t uphold its charter contract and state regulations when it missed deadlines to file annual financial reports, implemented a diploma program for students over the age of 18 without state approval, failed to provide required special education services, maintained inaccurate student academic records and fell into a budget deficit multiple times, according to the final termination order.
The school’s financial struggles resulted in three teachers being laid off this school year. Bowles said the affected teachers continued to work as volunteers and have since been rehired on part-time pay.
State officials who visited the school also testified to having concerns of poor student engagement during instructional hours and of disciplinary issues, including one instance in which Oklahoma City police had to break up a fight at PTPLA.
Statewide board members also complained of a lack of cooperation from the school’s leaders. After being placed on probation in November, the PTPLA board demanded an apology from the state and contended it had “nothing to fix.”
“PTPLA repeatedly failed to cooperate with reasonable requests from (statewide board) staff for records, proof of submissions and student data that should have been easily provided or retrieved,” the final order states.
Coleman, the school’s board president, disagreed. She said PTPLA worked closely with state officials, resolved all issues and “answered all the questions.”
Regardless, the statewide board’s decision “leaves us at closure,” she said Tuesday.
