DUARTE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
STAFF REPORT REGARDING OPTIONS FOR YOUTH – DUARTE’S
REQUEST FOR MATERIAL REVISION TO CHARTER
DATE POSTED: February 26, 2025
Background
On January 30, 2025, Options for Youth – Duarte, Inc. (“OFY”) submitted a request for a material revision to its existing charter petition to the Duarte Unified School District (“District”). OFY’s existing charter term runs through June 30, 2027.
OFY is a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (“WIOA”) charter school serving students in 7th through 12th grades. OFY operates as an exclusive WIOA partner and serves students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out, minority students, children of migratory families, homeless students, foster students, transient students, justice-involved youth, pregnant and parenting students, LGBTQ students, migrant students, students with disabilities, students with special needs, students with behavioral problems, English learners, chronically absent students, students who are bullied, skills deficient students, students with an Individualized Educational Plan or Section 504 plan, students who need flexibility in their schedules, and individuals who require additional assistance to complete an educational program or to secure or hold employment.
OFY seeks to relocate from its existing resource center at 7955 Atlantic Avenue, Cudahy, CA 90201 to 4210 E. Gage Avenue, Bell, CA 90201 because the term of its current lease expires March 31, 2025. OFY’s landlord at the Atlantic Avenue location will not agree to renew OFY’s lease because the landlord intends to lease the location to a “revenue generating” tenant in alignment with plans to remodel the shopping center. The new Gage Avenue location consists of 15,142 square feet and OFY confirms that it meets the requisite zoning, accessibility, parking, and fire and safety requirements. OFY has secured a ten-year lease for that location, with two five-year options to extend the term. OFY anticipates an increase in average daily attendance revenue by relocating the resource center to the Gage Avenue facility.
OFY also seeks to expand its resource center located at 6604 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90805 to an additional 2,193 square foot suite in the same shopping center with an address of 6624-6628 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90805 to enable OFY to serve additional students. OFY has confirmed that the expansion site meets the requisite zoning, accessibility, parking, and fire and safety requirements. OFY has secured an eight year and eight month lease for that additional location.
OFY has also updated its charter to adjust its hours of operation from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., made changes to reflect recent changes to the school’s leadership structure, and updated the charter to reflect the school’s current practices, programs, and policies.
OFY’s Board of Directors adopted a resolution authorizing it to submit the request for material revision to the District and OFY provided redlined and clean versions of its revised charter for the District’s review.
Applicable Law
During the term of its charter, a charter school may wish to revise its current approved charter. The District must approve any proposed change to the provisions of a charter before the change may be implemented. While any non-material change can be handled administratively by the District, any desired revision considered “material” must be approved by the governing board of the charter school and the District’s Board of Education (“Board”) in accordance with Education Code section 47607, subdivision (a)(3). Material revisions are governed by the same standards and criteria that apply to new charter petitions and must include, but not be limited to, a reasonably comprehensive description of any new requirement of charter schools enacted into law after the charter was originally granted or last renewed. (Ed. Code, § 47607, subds. (a)(3), (b).) Therefore, the District must determine whether the charter, as materially revised, would be reasonably comprehensive, educationally sound, and likely to be successfully implemented, as well as whether the charter as revised contains affirmations of the requisite conditions, whether the charter school is demonstrably likely to serve the interests of the entire community in which the school is proposing to locate pursuant to the material revision, and whether the District is positioned to absorb the fiscal impact of the proposed material revision. (Ed. Code, § 47605, subd. (c)(1)-(2), (4)-(5), and (7)-(8).)
Education Code section 47605, subdivision (a)(4) requires a charter school proposing to expand operations to one or more additional sites to request a material revision to its charter and to notify the chartering authority of those additional locations. The chartering authority shall consider whether to approve those additional locations at an open, public meeting. If the additional locations are approved pursuant to the standards and criteria in Education Code section 47605, subdivision (c), they shall be a material revision to the charter school’s charter.
Staff Analysis
Staff has reviewed the proposed revisions to OFY’s charter and has determined that the charter, as materially revised, includes reasonably comprehensive descriptions of the required elements, is educationally sound, is likely to be successfully implemented, and contains affirmations of the requisite conditions; that the charter school is demonstrably likely to serve the interests of the entire community in which the school is proposing to locate pursuant to the material revision; and that the proposed material revision will not have a negative fiscal impact on the District.
OFY last updated its charter to include descriptions of new requirements of charter schools in April 2023, in conjunction with its material revision to relocate a different resource center. In reviewing the materially revised charter submitted for review on January 30, 2025, District staff determined that OFY has updated the charter to reflect descriptions of new requirements of charter schools enacted into law since April 2023 and to reflect its current program, policies and practices.
Staff Recommendation
After evaluating OFY’s charter utilizing the standards and criteria set forth in Education Code section 47605, considering the new requirements of charter schools enacted into law since OFY’s charter was last materially revised, and based upon the above, District staff recommends that the Board grant the material revision as requested by OFY.