After the La Mesa Spring Valley School District issued a notice of violation for several problems at Sparrow Academy Charter School, board members are discussing what needs to happen next.
“The minute that I found out that there was a free Public Waldorf Charter, I signed up for a tour,” said Sparrow parent Justine Champion.
Champion said her family is no stranger to alternative learning.
“Because my children are neuroatypical, I knew that they needed a school that was not traditional, not seat-based, not computer or technology-based,” Champion said.
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Three of her four kids are currently enrolled at Sparrow Academy in La Mesa.
“My fourth-grader, this year, just started strings and he picked the violin,” Champion said.
Sparrow Academy is a free public charter school in the La Mesa Spring Valley School District that serves kids from kindergarten through the eighth grade.
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Parents who spoke to NBC 7 said the academy uses the principles of Public Waldorf education, doesn’t focus on traditional learning and gives students a chance to learn at their own pace.
“She would come home because they would read stories and tell stories and be exposed passively to literacy, so out of her own curiosity, she would come home and ask about spelling,” said another Sparrow Academy Charter School parent, Mona Alsoraimi- Espirito.
But for the last few years, Sparrow has had a rough time keeping up with district compliance and because of this, the school district gave that school a Notice of Violation.
Reasons Sparrow Academy Charter School was given a Notice of Violation
Here are the five core issues:
- Facilities are not accessible to students with disabilities, not ADA compliant
- Doesn’t have appropriate facilities and space for students
- For two years, the school had a special education teacher without the right credentials
- Didn’t have appropriate policies to teach students with disabilities
- The school is not operating in a sound fiscal condition
Parents told NBC 7 if the school can’t fix these issues, Sparrow students will be forced into a learning curve that’s not familiar.
“I would personally have to keep them home for an entire year and home school them to bring them up to what is considered grade school level, for a traditional school.” Champion said.
The district has been working with Sparrow to resolve the issues, but many parents said they feel like their chances are about to run out.
“This is a very valuable asset to the community and we need to help make sure that these parents and these children, most importantly, are not negatively impacted,” Alsoraimi- Espirito said.
If the school board decides to move forward with the Notice of Violation, the Sparrow Academy Charter School will have 30 days to provide a plan to fix the issues.
