charter schools.1 Part I of this investigation will address all charter schools with the exception

R1

The Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts, Six Rivers Charter High School, and Trillium Charter School need to display a clear one-step link to the School Accountability Report Card on the first page of their website, labeling that link “School Accountability Report Card (SARC)” in order to make the school’s data easily accessible to the public and thereby comply with both the letter and the spirit of the law (Ed Code, section 33126(d). (F1) 4 http://internet.humboldt.k12.ca.us/freshwater_sd/FreshwaterElem_SARC%202012.html, December 13, 2013.

R2

All charter schools need to check the published California Department of Education data against their own “in house” records to make certain that the data the California Department of Education publishes is accurate. (F2) REQUEST FOR RESPONSES for PART I Pursuant to Penal Code § 933.05, the following responses are required; the Governing Boards of the following schools; (cid:1) Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts (R1, R2) (cid:1) Six Rivers Charter High School (R1, R2) (cid:1) Trillium Charter School (R1, R2) The Governing Board of Freshwater Charter School should respond to recommendation 2 to clarify the published administrative salary found at the California Department of Education’s Ed Data website and the self-reported administrative salary submitted to the Grand Jury. SUMMARY – PART II – Mattole Valley Charter School When doing the investigation of Humboldt County’s charter schools, the Humboldt County Grand Jury found many problems with its attempt to obtain clear, transparent, and accurate data for the Mattole Valley Charter School on its website. Such a lack of accuracy and transparency is a violation of Education Code, section 33126(d). The Mattole Valley Charter School’s website also lacked easy access to the School Accountability Report Card and other information that parents might need in order to make informed choices for the education of their children. DISCUSSION – PART II – Mattole Valley Charter School The Mattole Valley Charter School is the least transparent with its public records of all schools the Grand Jury investigated this year. What should be a very simple internet search for the average person wishing to learn about the Mattole Valley Charter School – finding API scores, number of teachers, budgets, and general school qualifications – leads to a frustrating series of dead ends that offer little or no meaningful information without searching further on its website using a “hit or miss” method. The Mattole Valley Charter School Website is http://www.mattolevalley.com/, and it requires many steps to access any useful information. When Mattole Valley Charter’s information is finally accessed by going first to http://www.mattolevalley.com/resources/student-parent-resources/, one must select “resources,” which leads to another menu. On that menu, there is a link that leads to the School Accountability Report Card. However, when one searches the School Accountability Report Card for Mattole Valley Charter School, one does not know if the data is for Mattole Valley Charter School, its sponsoring agent, Mattole Unified School District, or both. If this sounds confusing, it is. Just getting to Mattole Valley Charter School’s School Accountability Report Card is hard enough for the average person making an inquiry into the school. Reading Mattole Valley Charter School’s School Accountability Report Card is just as confusing for the average person with limited to average internet skills, because of the numerous

R3

Two distinct positions need to be created with one clearly distinct person for each position: one person for the Superintendent of the Mattole Unified District and another person for the Director of the Mattole Valley Charter School in order to avoid any possibility of the appearance of a conflict of interest between the two institutions. (F3)

R4

The Superintendent of the Mattole Unified School District or his designee needs to check the published California Department of Education’s data against the actual district data to make certain that both sets of data are accurate and consistent. (F4)

R5

Mattole Valley Charter School needs to establish meaningful, easily navigated websites for each of its learning centers, including a separate School Accountability Report Card for each of the learning centers in order to assure the public that students in those “learning centers” are receiving sound education. (F5)

R6

The Governing Boards of the Mattole Unified School District and the Mattole Valley Charter School are urged to give both the Superintendent of the District and the Director of the charter school an annual, formal, written evaluation. (F6) REQUEST FOR RESPONSES for Part II Pursuant to Penal Code section 933.05, the following responses are required: (cid:1) The Governing Boards of the Mattole Union School District and / or the Mattole Valley Charter School. (R1 through R6) Reports issued by the Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Penal Code § 929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Grand Jury.