A South LA school that serves unhoused students and students who live at or below the poverty line is making its case for why it deserves to keep its charter status. Karma Dickerson reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
A South Los Angeles-based school that serves unhoused students made its case Tuesday to the Los Angeles County Board of Education as to why it should keep its charter status.
Crete Academy, which primarily serves underserved students who live at or below the poverty line, is appealing the Los Angeles Unified School District’s decision to deny its charter renewal. The district said it opted not to renew the school’s charter status due to its low academic performance.
School administrators, parents and supporters of Crete Academy gathered in Downey to make their case on why the school and its students deserve it.
“There's no school that has our current demographic,” Brett Mitchell, executive director and co-founder of Crete said. “We're 98% SED, which is socioeconomically disadvantaged. We're 30% unhoused and we're 70% African-American.”
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The school’s population is about 280 children, and it offers services to help its unique demographic.
“We have 20 mental health specialists on site every day between our two campuses,” Mitchell said. “We have the monthly medical checkups from UCLA. They come to the school to serve all of our families. We have washers and dryers at both of our campuses. We make sure there's transportation for families.”
LAUSD made its decision in January not to renew the school’s charter, citing a state education code that classifies Crete as a low-performing charter school. According to the district, low-performing charter schools shall not be renewed, per California Education Code sections 47605 and 47607.2.
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The district provided the following statement on the matter:
“Staff of the Charter Schools Division and the Office of the General Counsel reviewed the renewal charter petition application for Crete Academy and have assessed that the renewal petition application does not meet the criteria for approval. As fully discussed in the Findings of Fact in Support of Denial of the Renewal Charter Petition for Crete Academy, based on review of the petition and supporting documentation, staff has determined, Charter School shall not renew as a Low performing charter school based on performance indicators and pursuant to the statutory renewal framework. (Ed. Code § 47607.2(a).) Additionally, Petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program set forth in the petition. (Ed. Code § 47605(c)(2).”
Mitchell said he and other school leaders are aware of the school’s performance, but it is still dedicated to serving its students.
“We're very accountable and direct about, you know, some of the things we want to improve,” he said. “But the number one thing we have to focus on is the basic needs and supporting the families. And once we get that in place, then we're able to, you know, everything else will improve gradually.0 But it does take time.”
It is unclear when the LA County Board of Education will announce its decision. If the appeal is not approved by the county, the school can appeal to the state.
