DC Court of Appeals Upholds Charter School Board Closure of the Kamit Institute for Magnificent Achievers (KAMIT) Public Charter School

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Washington, D.C. — The District of Columbia Court of Appeals today upheld the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB)’s August 2010 decision to revoke the charter of KAMIT Public Charter School. The appellate court affirmed that PCSB has an express duty and responsibility to exercise its expertise in making educational judgments on whether to revoke a school’s charter. The court followed the standard under D.C. law that courts are to presume the validity of an expert agency’s action and found that PCSB acted carefully and conscientiously when it exercised its responsibility to revoke KAMIT’s charter.

“This decision affirms what we knew to be true, that the Board provided KAMIT with the due process it affords every school it oversees and exercised a thorough examination of KAMIT’s performance before ultimately deciding to close the school,” said Board Chair Brian W. Jones. “We are grateful that the court confirmed our authority to close a school based on an examination of the school’s performance and the exercise of our expertise. The Board will continue to use this authority to shut down failing schools.”

Click here to read the court's decision.

PCSB unanimously voted in 2010 to close The KAMIT Institute for Magnificent Achievers, a middle and high public charter school, after reviewing evidence that the school submitted and determining that the schools had years of poor test scores, low attendance, difficulty in managing student transcripts, governance shortcoming and other issues. The school filed suit in D.C. Superior Court after the closure and after losing that case, filed an appeal.

PCSB was represented by Brian Anderson and Courtney Dyer of O’Melveny & Myers LLP.

About PCSB: The DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) is setting a national model for creating quality public school options through its rigorous review of new charter applications and effective oversight of charter school performance that is leading the transformation of public education in Washington, DC. PCSB currently oversees 57 public charter schools on 102 campuses serving 35,019 students living in every ward of the city. Learn more at www.dcpcsb.org.

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