The Carvalho investigation comes as LAUSD’s meeting on labor negotiations, the charter school

Los Angeles school officials took action on the big news Tuesday at their first public board meeting after the FBI raid on the home and office of Supt. Alberto Carvalho: rejecting the renewal of one of the best-known charter schools in the country, approving four important union contracts and passing a resolution aimed at ending business with vendors who have ties to federal immigration law.

The meeting took place as Carvalho issued his first statement since the raid, insisting he is innocent and hoping to return to work as soon as possible.

There was no public discussion related to Carvalho, who was placed on paid leave by the board on Feb. 27, two days after an FBI raid related to an investigation into a failed intelligence project thrust him and the school district into the national spotlight and plunged the district into a leadership crisis.

Federal investigators have never charged Carvalho with wrongdoing, although sources have confirmed he is one of the targets in their investigation of Boston-based AllHere, a cash-strapped startup after a failed move.

Acting Supt. Andres Chiat, a veteran county manager, presided over his first public meeting but did not speak.

Green Dot Locke High charter rejected

In the most heated issue of the day, the board rejected the charter renewal of Locke High, which is operated by Green Dot Public Schools.

The denial, if not overturned at the district level, means the school will have to close at the end of the year.

The board’s vote was 4 to 3 in favor of the denial — in keeping with the district staff’s recommendation, but to the dismay of more than 100 Green Dot supporters who cheered on pro-school speakers.

Locke High, in Watts, reopened as a charter school in 2008 after a political battle between charter school forces, which are privately owned public schools, most of them non-cooperative.

Locke was one of the worst performing schools in the region based on academic performance – and remains so – in large part because it serves families facing deep social and economic challenges: extreme poverty, unequal health care and limited family education.

Green Dot took over from Locke at a time when charter advocates wielded enormous political power — which is no longer the case.

Green Dot pursues its educational mission differently than many other charters. Charter founder Steve Barr insisted the workforce would be unionized — and they remain so, despite occasional tensions. Green Dot staff is affiliated with the California Teachers Assn. instead of UTLA.

The charter also embraces the mission of being a neighborhood school – automatically accepting all who come through its doors. In contrast, while many charters serve students in challenging schools, they often appeal to motivated families who make the choice to attend, which can give these charters a good advantage in terms of student performance, according to some experts.

Charts must be renewed every five years or so. This round, the district’s oversight body recommended it be renewed based on data that looked at how many of Locke’s 250 students would have attended other schools if they had stayed in their area. Students at those other schools do better on other key measures than their neighbors who decided to enroll at Locke. About 1,000 students attend Locke, 750 of them from the local area.

The Green Dot made no excuses for low success. Instead the document pointed to the great progress made by Locke’s students. In other words, students arrived with low passing scores and improved significantly – much faster than LA Unified and the state as a whole – even if the total scores remained below the state averages, according to data presented by Green Dot.

“Today was not the result we expected,” said Cristina de Jesus, president and CEO of Green Dot, “but I think Locke and the whole community showed the way they always do, full of energy. We’ll see at the district board in a month, and we’re ready to fight.”

Progress with certain groups of workers

The school board on Tuesday approved four labor contracts with the district’s other small unions — as negotiations continue with the teachers union and the union that represents more than 60,000 workers.

The terms of the deals vary and provide limited insight into what the district’s final offer could be for the remaining unions. Deals reached with:

• Teamsters Local 572, which represents restaurant managers, office managers and factory managers, oversees school repairs;
• Local 500 of the California School Employees Assn., which represents elementary school librarians and school clerical workers;
• Two unions represent school police – the police union and the senior police union.

Members of United Teachers Los Angeles and Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union have approved strike authorization resolutions – meaning their leadership has the authority to call a strike at their discretion.

Another union in the talks is the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents principals, other school administrators, many middle managers and other central office workers.

Pro-Immigrant Resolution

Another consideration in the Carvalho investigation is whether his representation of people in other countries has made him a victim of the Trump administration.

If Trump officials were trying to send a message to LA Unified leaders, that message was not ignored on Tuesday.

The school board approved – by a vote of 7-0 – a resolution seeking to end business relationships with vendors who cooperate with immigration enforcement.

“This decision ensures that the district has the necessary information to understand those types of relationships when evaluating vendors,” said board member Rocio Rivas.

The decision does not block retailers or disrupt essential services, Rivas said. Instead, senior management should develop guidelines for evaluating vendor disclosures to determine any business relationship with immigration enforcement actions.

The decision does not name specific vendors, although some board members and public speakers have sued certain businesses.

The decision is strongly worded but also full of caveats – noting that the district will comply with contract and procurement laws. The superintendent’s office must come up with a plan to achieve the purpose of the decision.