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The Encinitas Union School District board voted unanimously Tuesday night to revoke the charter of Theory Into Practice Academy, a school that came under fire for self-dealing among its top administrators and board members. The school took the unusual approach of providing a gifted and talented curriculum to all students.
Parents and teachers at the school had pleaded for an alternative, such as putting the school on a year-long probation, and argued that the school had adequately responded to concerns by firing administrators Deborah and Mike Hazelton, reconstituting their board, and other changes. Encinitas Union School District said the response was insufficient, in part because money that improperly flowed to the Hazeltons hadn’t been recovered.
Charter schools operate independently with public funds, and are typically granted the right to exist by school districts, which provide basic oversight. Their authorizers are permitted to revoke them only under limited circumstances, and are restricted from meddling in the schools’ operations.