The California Department of Education (CDE) has released the 2023 data placing all of the state’s charter schools that are not Dashboard Alternative School Status schools (DASS schools) into High, Middle, or Low performance categories  for purposes of renewal. Most schools fall into the High or Middle categories, but about 8.4 percent face closure without making significant improvements by the time they are up for renewal.

Under Assembly Bill 1505, passed in 2019, authorizers must consider a charter school’s placement in one of three categories based on its performance on the California School Dashboard. The Dashboard is a color-coded accountability system for public schools based on students’ academic achievement, graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, college/career readiness, suspension rates, and English learner progress.

The newly released 2023 Performance Category Data File places 1,149 charter schools into the following High, Middle or Low performance categories:

• High: 210 charter schools. Presumption of renewal, with exception for serious financial or legal issues. Eligible for a five-, six-, or seven-year renewal term.
• Middle: 842 charter schools. Eligible for a five-year renewal term.
• Low: 97 charter schools. Presumption of nonrenewal, but under Ed Code Section 47607.2(a)(3) may still be eligible for a two-year renewal term if the authorizer makes written findings that “the charter school is taking meaningful steps to address the underlying cause or causes of low performance, and those steps are reflected, or will be reflected, in a written plan adopted by the governing body of the charter school.”

This is the first Performance Category Data File since 2019, due to the suspension of Dashboard data collection and charter renewals extensions during COVID-19. The performance categories do not apply to DASS schools, which have their own individual renewal criteria.

The Charter Authorizer Support Initiative (CASI) will hold its next quarterly virtual training on “The Road to Renewal” on Friday, April 19, 2024, from 9:00 to 11:00 am. Registration for this free training will be available soon on the CASI web page.