SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Issues with teacher credentials, conflicts of interest and financial mismanagement — those are concerns raised in a report from the Sacramento City Unified School District looking into St. HOPE Public Schools, which has two charter schools with the district.
The report shines light on alleged issues, while St. HOPE leaders say it mischaracterizes what’s going on.
School is back in session at St. HOPE Public Schools as of Wednesday. Sacramento Charter High School and St. HOPE PS7 are charter schools through the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD).
“Anybody who's remotely familiar with the Oak Park community, St. HOPE is a presence in the entire community,” said St. Hope Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Ruda.
She spoke with ABC10 Wednesday in her office, which is lined with photos of smiling students. She, however, faces a grim reality, as SCUSD superintendent, Lisa Allen, sent St. HOPE Public Schools leaders a letter late last month, informing them that a report by a third party auditor raised concerns.
This is all coming as St. HOPE is going through the process of renewing its charter with SCUSD for another five years.
Ruda wants to assure parents and students the current charter extends through June of next year. She said “the charter is in place this school year. Expect no changes whatsoever.”
The report and letter claim St. HOPE schools are far behind the statewide average for number of teachers with what’s called an “effective credential.”
Ruda, along with St. HOPE Public Schools Board Chair Cassandra Jennings, say now 86% of their teachers have effective credentials, a big improvement over recent years, and the other teachers are still credentialed to teach.
“Every teacher here who teaches has a credential, has the ability, has the license needed to work in a school district,” Ruda said. “We have made such progress over the past three years in terms of finding the best and the brightest of the most qualified educators.”
The report also points out possible conflicts of interest, including that Jennings - a longtime Sacramento community advocate - serves both as the board chair and as the CEO of St. HOPE Academy, a nonprofit that provides services to St. Hope Public Schools through contracts.
“It gets personal when they call your name out,” Jennings told ABC10. “Before I even decided to take the role of the chair of the board or to be on the board, we had an attorney opinion. And we scrutinized it, pretty much, because we don't want to do anything that's illegal. Our purpose is really clear, laser focus: to really help to improve the lives of the scholars here and their families.”
They stand by the opinion of St. HOPE’s attorney that the overlapping roles are OK as long as proper procedures are followed. Jennings said she follows those, including recusing herself from board decisions related to St. HOPE Academy.
The report also alleges financial disorganization, including “fiscal irregularities, lack of internal controls and lack of GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles)-compliant procedures.”
The district is giving St. HOPE a chance to address these concerns before a decision is made on whether to renew the charter. A response is due by Aug. 26.
“We look forward to responding to those concerns, but we're confident we can share information that will, in fact, allow this renewal to be approved,” Ruda said.
If SCUSD ultimately rejects St. HOPE’s charter renewal request, Ruda said they can appeal to the Sacramento County Office of Education and even to the California Department of Education. They hope it doesn’t come to that; they want to work with the district and get their charter renewed by July 1 of next year.
In a statement to ABC10, SCUSD said:
“In the spring of 2024, concerns about St. Hope Public Schools’ accounting and governance practices, as well as other issues, were brought forward by various community groups to the Sacramento Unified School District, which serves as the authorizer of the charter schools operated by St. Hope Public Schools. As a result, the District ordered an investigation and audit, which revealed accounting practices that are generally considered unacceptable, teacher credentialing issues and potential conflicts of interest. Based on the results of the investigation and audit, the District issued a letter of correction, informing St. Hope that the outlined violations may be grounds for charter non-renewal. The next step in the process is for St. Hope to respond to the letter with a corrective action plan on or before August 26, 2024. The District is hopeful that St. Hope will implement with fidelity all necessary corrective actions to address the identified concerns so that it may bring its operations into compliance for purposes of charter renewal.”
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