Orange County School Board renews contract with an “alternative” charter school under scrutiny
• Orange County School Board officials voted recently to renew a charter contract with Sunshine High School, which is currently under the microscope after a ProPublica investigation reported the charter school was a “silent release valve” for local traditional high schools by taking in academically challenged students unlikely to graduate on time. The school district has responded sharply to the article, with Superintendent Barbara Jenkins calling it “false” in a statement. ProPublica reports Olympia High School would hold assemblies for poor performing students where representatives from Accelerated Learning Solutions, a for-profit management company that runs Sunshine and other charter schools, told them they could catch up on credits and graduate. The report alleges Olympia kept its graduation rate above 90 percent …
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