The Santa Barbara School District Board of Education recently approved a plan to extend operation of Cesar Chavez Charter School through the end of the school year and invited the school community to bring a plan forward this spring for a restructured dual language immersion program for next year. A district consultant will work with the Cesar Chavez staff to boost student achievement, particularly for English learners, for the remainder of the school year.

I have received a number of questions about why, if we are really serious about student achievement, we didn’t just close the school. On the other hand, we were also asked to just extend the charter.

Contrary to what you may have read, I did not recommend closing the school. I did report that the school doesn’t qualify for charter renewal under the state’s minimum academic performance requirement. But I also proposed a plan to continue the school through the end of this school year with district oversight to boost student achievement and to reconstitute the school for the future.

Why? Despite low performance, the school has great potential to become a successful dual language program. The school has a motivated staff, high levels of parent involvement, an enthusiastic ¡Sí, se puede! spirit among students, a governance council willing to work on improvement, and healthy connections to our community. We also believe in the mission of the school for all students to be literate in two languages.

But the mission of Cesar Chavez Charter School also includes a strong academic foundation. We looked at student performance using multiple measures of academic achievement including data provided by the school. We are concerned about the academic preparation of students, particularly English learners. Contrary to the model for dual language immersion programs, English learners at the school generally perform at low levels by fifth and sixth grade and generally underperform as junior high and high school students as they go on to higher grade levels.

The school is one of the lowest performing dual language immersion programs in the state. Academic underperformance is the reason the state set a minimum requirement for charter renewal, and the district does not have the option of ignoring the state rules.

We have been concerned about academic performance at Cesar Chavez Charter School for a number of years, and throughout that time have communicated our concerns to its leadership. Because Cesar Chavez is a charter school, our district’s governance ability is limited to charter approval every five years.

We are charged with the responsibility to move all students to higher levels, and we should not be content with low performance of English learners who will need the skills to be successful as they go on to high school, pursue equal opportunities to attend college and be successful in careers in our community. All students need more than good social English skills; they need skills in academic English if they are to be successful at higher levels. Other schools in our district that have been unsuccessful with English learners have undergone major restructuring and are now seeing major gains. Cesar Chavez can improve academic achievement, and it is the responsibility of our district to insist on higher performance.

In taking action to continue the school with district oversight this year and invite the Cesar Chavez school community to bring forth a plan this spring to reconstitute the school, I believe our district’s board of education has set a course to ensure higher success for Cesar Chavez Charter School students. It is part of what “la lucha,” the historic struggle of Cesar Estrada Chavez’s life was about.

We want a highly successful dual language immersion school, and I have every confidence that together with the school community we will succeed.

— Brian Sarvis is superintendent of the Santa Barbara School District.