Dear Saint Parents, Families, and Community,

We are writing to urge you to join us in our efforts to prevent Ednovate - South LA College Charter from co-locating at Harte Preparatory Middle School where they will control 52% of the school’s campus. This decision would have a devastating impact on our children's education and the future of our school.  South LA College Charter is a high school that will intermingle with Harte Preparatory middle school's students. 

Under a flawed state law known as Prop 39, neighborhood public schools can be forced to give away “unused” space to charter operators. That “unused” space is not unused at all — it houses arts and music classrooms, science centers, parent centers, and other resources that contribute to a rich, vibrant educational program. Just because a charter operator can co-locate does not mean that they must. This invasion is a choice that charter operators make — a choice that hurts students in neighborhood public schools.

In general, charter schools are known to attract and select the high-achieving students and leaving historically disadvantaged students such as students with disabilities or English Language Learners, behind in impoverished public schools. Charter schools have a lower retention rate for teachers. They lose about 24% of their teachers every year, which is double the rate of traditional public schools. They are known to continuously recruit recent college graduates and burnout young teachers. This perpetuates the nationwide teacher shortage, with less individuals committed to teaching as a career. Over time, high turnover tends to diminish student achievement.

Harte Prep Middle School's  teachers and staff are dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to help their students succeed. The teachers care immensely about the students' learning experiences and continuously strive to deliver the best quality education possible for our students. "Many of us currently live in the community, grew up in the community, and/or have taught at the "Prep" for years. Collectively, we have established, maintained, and fostered positive relationships with the families of our students for decades.' However, if South LA College charter were allowed to co-locate, it would put all of this at risk. 

Ednovate - South LA College Prep does not need to co-locate on our campus. It is a conscious choice that they made, which is invasive and harmful to the learning experience of our students at Harte Preparatory Middle School. Furthermore, studies have shown that co-location can lead to increased violence on campus. According to a report by the National Education Association, schools that share facilities with other institutions are more likely to experience incidents of bullying and harassment.

We believe that South LA College Prep effort to co-locate on our campus is a step towards privatization within Los Angeles Unified School District. The staff, parents & families of Harte Preparatory Middle School and the community members in the city of South LA, strongly oppose the co-location for the following reasons:

1. Ednovate - South LA College Prep Schools will defund and take away resources from our students, which will ultimately eliminate the positions from the teachers and staff members of Harte Preparatory Middle School.
2. Ednovate - South LA College Prep Schools will take up space in the Auditorium, Athletic Field, Faculty Lounge/Dining Room, Indoor Serving/Dining Area, Parent Center, Gymnasium, Cafeteria, Parking Lot, Library, Restrooms, the Quad, Computer Lab, After School Programs and other Shared Use Spaces.
3. Ednovate - South LA College Prep Schools will cause increased traffic congestion due to drop off and pick up times.
   Ednovate - South LA College Prep Schools will have a different bell schedule which will be disruptive and confusing.
4. Ednovate - South LA College Prep Schools will create two sets of staff, administrators, parents, and students which will increase the possibility of inter-conflict among LAUSD employees/families and Ednovate - South LA College Prep Schools employees/families.
5. Ednovate - South LA College Prep Schools plan to occupy the same space where our children learn and grow will create increased conflict in addressing student behaviors/concerns, which will make the co-location detrimental to the learning experience of ALL students.
6. Ednovate – South LA College Prep Schools plan to co-exist on the same campus with 6th and 7th grade students who may be expose to inappropriate behavior or language from older students. This can lead to younger students feeling uncomfortable or unsafe at school, and even bullied into engaging in risky behavior.
7. Ednovate – South LA College Prep Schools plan to co-exist on the same campus with 6th and 7th grade students who may feel intimidated by older students. This can lead to younger students feeling anxious, stressed, feeling isolate or depressed at school.
8. The influx of new students would overwhelm the school's resources and infrastructure, leading to overcrowded classrooms, longer wait times for services, and decreased access to extracurricular activities.
9. Charter schools are selective and often don't enroll or disenroll Special Education Students after a period of time.
10. Due to the logistics of the Harte Prep campus, the charter school students, parents and their visitors will have unsupervised opportunities to engage with Harte Prep students.

As UTLA members, the teachers at Harte Preparatory Middle School will continue advocating for public school education and the rights of our students by addressing issues that are currently impacting our students such as large class sizes, inadequate support staffs of nurses and librarians, and the proliferation of charter schools. This includes preventing the co-location from charter school networks such as Ednovate - South LA College Prep from disrupting the vibrant learning environment that we have worked hard to establish on our campus.  We cannot allow this situation to happen in our community. Our children deserve better than this. We need your support in urging Ednovate - South LA College Prep Board of Directors & Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, those responsible for making this decision, not to go through with this co-location of schools.  

Please sign this petition if you agree that LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and Ednovate - South LA College Prep Schools Board of Directors need to act in preventing the co-location and work together with the entire community to protect the future of public-school education for ALL students.

Thank you for your support to “SAVE OUR SCHOOL”