A community in East LA is pushing back against LAUSD after they plan to close KIPP Sol Academy, a charter school with a unique mariachi program. Karma Dickerson reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on March 26, 2025.
Students and parents at KIPP Sol Academy in East Los Angeles are fighting to keep the school open after the Los Angeles Unified School District slated it to close.
LAUSD voted earlier this year not to renew the charter for the middle school. According to a report filed by the district in January, the charter school, classified as a middle-performing school, is not making enough progress toward meeting performance standards.
"I feel really sad and upset that they don’t see our school is a good school," said 6th grader Josiah Jones.
Parents are also pushing back against the district's decision, rallying community support to keep the East LA school open, which they say offers a loving school environment with unique extracurricular programs
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Among those programs are mariachi and folklorico dance, as well as mental health services.
Edith Gonzalez, who has sent three sons to the campus, feels the school is heavily focused on academic achievement.
"They keep pushing to our kids, if they fall behind they will have intervention for them to keep up with other kids," said Gonzalez.
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Lynzzi Brianza, the Chief External Impact Officer for KIPP, acknowledges the school is not currently meeting some standards but says the school’s mid-year scores have seen improvement.
"Like other public schools in our community is still recovering from the pandemic and that’s going to take time," said Brianza. "Whatever it takes for them to feel comfortable in saying yes we will do. You want to come back once a month to give a report to the board, we will do that. You want to come visit the school two times, we will do that."
KIPP Sol is currently appealing to the County Board of Education, which can override the LAUSD decision and keep the school open. The school will go before the County Board of Education next week, where they expect a vote on their appeal to stay open. If they’re not successful, they can appeal to the state.
NBCLA has reached out to LAUSD for comment but has not heard back.
