15
Mar, 2018
New Charter-School petition for Uni filed
[Posted March 15, 2018] The proposal for Uni to become an affiliated charter school within the Los Angeles Unified School District has taken a major step forward with a new petition to the District, submitted on January 30.
The term of the proposal is for July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2023 and is available for inspection here. The projected enrollment for the four-grade (9-12) program would be 1,625, slightly less than Uni’s current enrollment of 1,798.
Why? In a nutshell, according to the petition:
“Despite its academic, programming, community-partnership, and facility revitalization achievements, University High has experienced decreased enrollment resulting from an number of community families who have elected to send their children to nearby private, affiliated, and independent charter high schools. To better serve students in University High’s feeder pattern who attend affiliated charters such as Emerson Middle School, Paul Revere Middle School and Westwood Elementary, University High has elected to become an affiliated charter, offering parents and students a premier, comprehensive, community-based school option.”
The petition includes a lengthy list of goals, including increased student achievement in English and Mathematics, a decrease in absenteeism and the drop-out rate, an increase in the percentage of students meeting graduation requirements, increasing the number of students earning college credit through Advanced Placement courses and increasing parent and community involvement.
The curriculum is identified, with a conservancy program for ninth graders and a School for Advanced Studies, Math-Arts-Science-Technology (M.A.S.T.) Magnet and a wide variety of Advanced Placement courses available for grades 10-12.
The Charter will be directed by a 20-member University High School Council, which will include the school principal, 10 teachers who are members of United Teachers Los Angeles, five parent or community representatives, two student representatives, one non-faculty staff member and one at-large member. The Council will be the primary overseer of school funds.
One of the changes will likely be a new name for the school, such as “University Charter High School” or “University High School a Community Charter” or something else. You can vote for your favorite by linking to the ballot here.
The Affiliated Charter proposal is a serious effort by the Uni administration and faculty to address the significant reduction in attendance at the school over the past several years and is critical to Uni’s future. If you are interested in a snapshot of Uni in 2018, the 103-page Charter proposal is a worthwhile – and eye-opening – read.