Montgomery County schools Superintendent Thomas Taylor issued a searing rebuke of the county’s only charter school, threatening to recommend its closure and accusing its leaders of violating federal law.
In a letter to the charter school’s CEO, Taylor wrote that he can no longer “support or continue to endorse the mismanagement” of the middle school, the Mecca Business Learning Institute.
He said if officials don’t resolve a litany of issues — including what he described as noncompliance with the federal law that protects the rights of students with disabilities — he will ask the school board to revoke the charter that enables the campus to operate.
“These deficiencies demonstrate gross mismanagement and present material risk to the safety and financial viability of the MBLI Charter School and the continuation of its educational program,” Taylor wrote in the Nov. 14 letter, which was reviewed this week by The Banner.
Charter CEO LaChaundra Graham said in a statement that officials are working diligently to establish a new school within the system. But she said they’ve struggled to get information from the district and meet its various requirements.
“This has not been a simple process. As a first-year MCPS school operating for only three months, MBLI has encountered significant challenges,” Graham wrote.
She said the special education issues raised by district officials originated at students’ previous schools and are due to “barriers” outside the charter’s control.
“Even so, MBLI remains fully committed to serving students and addressing any items requiring clarification or alignment by MBLI,” Graham said.
In response to questions from The Banner, Graham forwarded several documents that outlined charter officials’ defense. As part of that correspondence, Graham sent The Banner a letter that included the full names and ID numbers of 16 students who receive special education accommodations at the school, along with a summary of the services provided to each child.
Such records are generally protected by federal student privacy laws. Their disclosure to a reporter, which Graham called an oversight, raises questions about the charter school’s safeguards on student privacy.
Graham said the school will take steps to be “more intentional about reviewing and redacting documents” before sharing them.
The district’s concerns over special education at MBLI weren’t the first sign of trouble for the charter school. Charter leaders planned to open the new school at a campus in Germantown, but construction delays forced them to launch at a temporary space in Bethesda, roughly 20 miles from where many of its students live.
Then it ran into problems with its yellow bus vendor, further complicating transportation for families. School leaders expected to serve 250 students in sixth and seventh grades, but by October, enrollment had plunged more than 25%.
Graham said she still expects the school to move into its permanent campus in Germantown after winter break.
Charter schools — which are publicly funded but privately operated — have long struggled to establish themselves in Montgomery County. The documents reviewed by The Banner reveal tensions between the public school district and its lone charter.
Graham and other charter leaders hoped the Mecca Business Learning Institute would provide families with a fresh option: a career-focused academy that would teach students about financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
But district leaders appear fed up with its challenges.
“Your responsibility as the leader of the charter school requires that you have a stronger command of policy, regulations, and generally accepted business practices,” Taylor wrote to Graham. “This is ironic to me given the theme of your charter school.”
The missteps, Taylor said, “call into question whether or not MBLI is safe for students and staff and whether or not MBLI is being ethically led.”
Problems, according to MCPS
In his Nov. 14 letter, Taylor accused the Mecca Business Learning Institute of violating the federal law that guarantees certain rights to children with disabilities.
The letter said district officials found multiple issues with the school, such as failures to provide timely special education services, retain qualified personnel and offer psychological services.
Taylor gave charter leaders 15 days to submit a corrective action plan. According to Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Liliana López, the district has not yet received a comprehensive plan.
“Failure to submit or fully implement the Corrective Action Plan will result in immediate escalation to charter revocation proceedings,” Taylor wrote in his letter. “I strongly recommend that MBLI engage qualified special education consultants to assist with corrective measures.”
In a Nov. 21 audit of special education plans, district officials said they found “widespread, systemic patterns and recurring issues posing significant compliance risks” at the Mecca Business Learning Institute.
District staff were scheduled to conduct in-person visits this week to monitor the charter’s progress.
López said MBLI remains responsible for developing, documenting and delivering special education services.
“These violations put our district in a position of potential liability and put our students’ well-being at risk,” she said in a statement.
Charter response
In a Dec. 2 letter to Taylor, charter school leaders disputed Montgomery County Public Schools officials’ assessment of the school.
“MBLI has approached its partnership with the district in good faith from day one,” the letter read. “What has been provided to date has not met the level of clarity or consistency required for a new school operating within a large system with highly specialized processes.”
The letter asserts that problems within students’ special education plans originated at kids’ previous public schools.
“It is therefore concerning that the districts’ communications appear to frame the audit findings in a way that suggests MBLI was provided with expectations and failed to act,” charter leaders wrote.
In previous correspondence with the district, Graham said officials made statements with “material inaccuracies” that showed “an increasingly adversarial posture.”
Decisions made in the next few weeks are critical to the charter’s future.
According to the school’s website, it’s accepting applications for next fall.
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