Eagle Academy PCS closing, Friendship proposal to acquire
/DC Public Charter School Board Hearing
DC Public Charter School Board Hearing
August 14, 2024
Friendship PCS Acquisition of Eagle Academy PCS
Testimony of Cathy Reilly
I appreciate this opportunity to testify. Charter Schools have insisted they are public schools, not just publicly funded. The claim is that charters are not private but public and they should have equal funding and equal rights.
Along with that should come equal responsibilities. We are a city that has a limited democracy often subject to different whims of a Congress we do not have equal representation in. At least with our own public institutions we can insist on transparency and a solid democratic process.
That is not what is occurring here. As I understand it, there have been significant concerns about the ethics and financial viability of Eagle, further documented in its site in Nevada. Despite these concerns Eagle was granted a renewal lease in January of 2023 and now it is closing.
Eagle is in a leased former DCPS school, McGogney. The lease is managed by a District Agency – the Department of General Services. The building and site is owned by the District of Columbia.
Whether it is technically legal or not, closed meetings at both Friendship and Eagle Academy and then an announced vote on a transfer of the lease raises serious questions on whose interests are primary and what kind of process is in place that protects the families, the public good and public money. This is not a solid democratic process.
Suzanne Wells and Valerie Jablow have documented these concerns well. See here.
Since the finish of the Student Assignment and Boundary Advisory Group, The PCSB is considering or voting on the movement of Bethune to a different site close to Takoma ES despite having space at the former Slowe, and the expansion of BASIS to elementary grades expanding their ceiling by 700 despite there not being a need (given a DME determined 32,000 seat surplus) and there being excellent schools in that area. And now this. These are not reflective of public considerations on joint planning and a whole system of public education.
The primary focus should be on the families of the District of Columbia writ large. It is the 11th hour now, with school due to open in a few weeks. The problem should have been public with options open. DCPS is in great need of swing space and could have also totally taken over these sites and served these students. The McGogney site has a capacity of 900, there are other options as well.
With this vote on the Eagle campus at Congress Heights, DGS will need to okay the transfer. They should not okay this transfer until there is the due diligence, the transparency and the honoring of adequate public process. The PCSB should not vote on the transfer of one charter LEA to another in August without a broader public process as well. There is no excuse for the last minute late timing on this. It is not a surprise.