Clashes over Fresno’s new charter school end with allegations of racism and unfairness

Fresno’s newest charter school will open next fall after winning approval from the Fresno Unified school board earlier this month, but the behind-the-scenes process was fraught with missteps and in-fighting among trustees that could change how charter schools are reviewed in the future.

An independent analysis of Golden Charter Academy concluded the CEO and founder, Robert Golden, a former professional football player turned educator, had a financial conflict of interest with the charter school. His relation to FUSD Trustee Keshia Thomas’ has also raised concerns.

Thomas - who recused herself from the debate and didn’t vote on the petition - is Golden’s mother-in-law. She also sits on Golden Charter’s board of directors and is vice president of the school. Thomas said she doesn’t draw a salary and strenuously denied having any conflicts of interest.

In an interview with The Bee’s Education Lab, Thomas described criticism of the school as “racist” and “a complete witch hunt.” She said the school underwent unprecedented scrutiny, with trustees requesting additional information and documents other charter schools weren’t asked to provide, such as a copy of the school’s lease agreement.

“I just know when it comes to equity here in Fresno, for employee economic equity, there are, in a lot of cases, a backlash for African Americans,” Thomas said. “Robert (Golden) should have never as an African American man had to deal with the scrutiny he had to deal with coming to this city from being an amazing athlete and incredible businessman to this board and be belittled and talked down to the way he was.”

Trustees brushed off the racism allegations as simply untrue and suggested the school actually received less scrutiny than other charter petitions due to Thomas’ political connections within FUSD.

Trustees said a discriminatory clause in the lease agreement with the Fresno Catholic Diocese would not have come to light if they didn’t ask for it. That agreement prohibited the public charter school from teaching basic subjects like LGBTQ+ lifestyles and sex education, a violation of California public school education laws.

While that particular clause eventually was removed, independent analysis from the national research nonprofit In the Public Interest said that was far from the only problem they found in both of their highly critical reports. One analysis was done on Jan. 12, and a second was published on Jan. 28.

The group concluded the school would be bad for Fresno, particularly for lower-income communities on the city’s southern end. They also said the school was likely to fail and that its proposed plan ignored education laws.

“The FUSD absolutely approved a charter petition with a proposed plan that included illegal arrangements,” said Clare Crawford, a senior policy analyst at the nonprofit who has analyzed charter repetitions in large school districts across the state.

However, the formal analysis conducted by FUSD staff had almost nothing in common with the independent review. FUSD staff gave the charter a clean bill of health and recommended board approval.

Despite the in-fighting, conflicting analysis and, at times, open hostility between critics and supporters, Golden Charter Academy ultimately won approval. However, trustees who voted against the school said the petition exposed flaws in the district’s process that could change how future charter schools are reviewed.

What is Golden Charter Academy?

Golden Charter Academy is doing what charter schools were originally designed to do, bring something to Fresno Unified that currently isn’t being offered. The school, which is slated to open in August, is partnering with the Fresno Chaffee Zoo to focus on “place-based education,” environmental education, and literacy.

“Place-based education allows for schools to do school anywhere and anyplace, not just be confined to a traditional classroom,” Golden told the Ed Lab.

Students will receive hands-on lessons at the zoo each day, he said. Some students don’t learn well in a traditional classroom setting, Golden said, and that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to pass.

“We’re changing the paradigm of education,” Golden said. “One of the things we’re able to do is educate our students to care for our world and community, and make our world a better place while at the same time creating an education program where we’re equipping students to demonstrate strength in the classroom.”

Golden, who is an Edison High School graduate, said he left the NFL in 2018 to give back to students, especially those in underserved and disadvantaged areas like southwest Fresno, where he grew up. He moved back to Fresno in August.

Golden Charter plans to open with 189 students in transitional kindergarten through third grade its first year and at full capacity, will have 448 students up to eighth grade. Golden said the school would have to do a lottery pick of students because they already have more than 200 applicants.

According to the district’s analysis, Fresno Unified will lose an estimated $1,182,389 the 2021-22 school year because of student enrollment losses to the charter school.

FUSD board members voted 4-2 to approve the charter school petition for five years. Trustees Veva Islas and Carol Mills voted down the petition.

During the meeting, Islas commended aspects of the “innovative” plan but also said there were many “irregularities” and “deficiencies.” She told the Ed Lab she hopes Golden Charter is successful.

Does Trustee Keshia Thomas have a conflict of interest?

Thomas disclosed her relations to Golden from the beginning. She recused herself from voting or participating in discussions about the charter to make sure there were no conflicts.

The independent analysis, however, concluded that Thomas’ connections to the school raised red flags.

“It’s generally a problem even though it’s not looked at as a legal issue,” Crawford said. “If a board member is … also on the board of a charter school, whose interest are you operating in? Is it in the districts? Are you operating in the interest of a charter?”

Thomas told the Ed Lab although her family has a financial stake in what happens to Golden Charter, she does not.

“There is no conflict of interest at all,” Thomas said. “A conflict of interest is when a person has monetary value in a company, I don’t have monetary value in Golden Charter Academy.”

Other board members the Ed Lab spoke with don’t see it as a significant issue but acknowledged that, to the community, it could appear as a conflict of interest.

Islas said she does believe Thomas wants to serve the entire community.

“Is it awkward? Yes, for a number of reasons,” Islas said of Thomas’ ties to the charter school. “The (Fresno Unified) attorney vetted this issue and said she (Thomas) is not being monetarily compensated. Is there a personal conflict because of her family? Likely, that is why she is stepping off of these (discussions).”

Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson-Rosas said she doesn’t believe Thomas is doing anything illegal but said it’s also “a matter of appearance.”

“Every trustee is accountable for their actions when perceived indirectly or directly by voters,” Jonasson-Rosas told the Ed Lab during an interview. “This may be one of the things she has to deal with, it’s up to the voters and up to her.”

To minimize the appearance of a conflict, Crawford said, Thomas could have given Golden Charter Academy the same kind of support but as an unofficial advisor.

“I’m not sure why … having family on the board is necessary,” she added.

However, this isn’t the first time an FUSD board member has been on the board of a charter school petitioned in the district. Thomas, Superintendent Bob Nelson, and Trustee Valerie Davis are all on the board of Dailey Elementary Charter School.

Even though Davis and Thomas were board members at the time, they both voted to approve Dailey’s charter petition for another five years on April 15.

Is Golden Charter school good for Fresno?

Before state legislation was passed in 2019, Crawford said, when analyzing a charter petition, school districts did not have the ability to take into account the impact charter schools would have on any students besides those attending the charter. School districts also could not deny a charter petition based on how it would affect the rest of the community.

That changed in July when AB-1505 was put into effect. School districts could now look at how the charter would affect the community, Crawford said. However, Fresno Unified didn’t do an in-depth evaluation of how Golden Charter’s petition, which was submitted in October after the law was in effect, would affect the community.

Fresno Unified lawyer, Susan Hatmaker who is also a Clovis Unified School District board member, said the law doesn’t require an analysis on impacts of the community, and it’s optional. If a school district wanted to deny a charter petition based on community impact, there would need to be “written factual findings to that effect,” she said during the Feb. 3 meeting.

The FUSD charter review team concluded the school would not affect Fresno Unified’s programs, Hatmaker said. But even if the board wanted to deny Golden Charter’s petition based on community impact, they would not be able to because district staff did not pursue an in-depth analysis based on community impact.

Trustee Claudia Cazares said Hatmaker’s “long-winded” reasoning of why an in-depth community impact analysis didn’t happen “was not a good explanation.”

“This being a larger charter school, we should have asked for an impact (analysis on) our community, or we should’ve done it ourselves, however you want to see it,” Cazares said during the meeting. “It should’ve been done so the school board can make a sound decision. I’m not saying it would’ve been detrimental to your application. It’s just not here for us to review.”

Golden Charter plans to target under-served communities like south Fresno, which have been historically disenfranchised. In the Public’s Interest report found that the schools in south Fresno are going to be the most severely impacted because students would leave schools in that area of the city to attend the charter, which would cause the established schools to lose money.

Islas told the Ed Lab Fresno Unified should “absolutely” have done more evaluation on community impact.

“We need to hold everybody to standard by bringing only assets into the community and ensuring there is no detriment to that,” she told the Ed Lab.

Crawford said that while a community-impact analysis is optional, districts should conduct them, so trustees have that information before voting.

“I certainly hope that the FUSD Board takes a long, hard look at how their staff and counsel handle evaluation of charter petitions and create some more robust policies to guide the process,” Crawford said.

Since AB-1505 went into effect, other California districts, like Los Angeles Unified, have adopted policies on how to assess and determine community impact. Islas said the board should “absolutely” look into creating policies about charter petitions that make assessments clearer.

In a statement, The Fresno Teachers Association said it is “extremely disappointed” most board members approved the petition and ignored “several huge red flags.” Golden Charter is also not prepared to meet the needs of students, the statement said.

“This perpetuates a lack of authentic oversight in the charter school authorization/renewal process that has plagued the district for decades,” the statement continued. “This approval might seem trivial for some, but it represents a lack of integrity in the charter authorization process and a lack of faith in the public education system board members were elected to lead.”

Golden Charter’s lease agreement scrutinized

Golden Charter plans to lease a building owned by the Diocese of Fresno Education Corporation until the school acquires a permanent space closer to the zoo, according to the petition, which is expected to be after the first school year. The building used to house the Our Lady of Victory Catholic School, located at 1626 W. Princeton Ave., in the west-central area of the city.

Golden said he plans to buy a building through his for-profit company, Golden Charter Academy School Corporation that was established in September and lease it back to the charter school, which is also his nonprofit organization. Golden’s wife and son are both registered as directors of the for-profit corporation.

“I’ve never seen self-dealing proposed as a facility plan,” Crawford said. “This raises red flags. There are lots of people who make money off of charter facilities. Why isn’t staff digging deeper in this financial agreement? It’s unfathomable. The point of going through this process is to vet petitions.”

Crawford has analyzed dozens of charter petitions across the state since mid-2017 and said she believes that other school districts probably would have vetted Golden Charter’s lease agreements more thoroughly. She said the self-dealing agreement violates state laws.

Islas also questioned Golden’s lease arrangement.

“You should be aware there are laws that prohibit self-dealing,” Islas said. “Why would you allow that to be publicly disclosed? If you’re aware that’s illegal, you wouldn’t propose that.”

However, Fresno Unified charter analyzers didn’t see the arrangement as a red flag.

“The Board was informed that such lease possibility was not, at this time, a conflict of interest,” an FUSD staff report said. “The District’s fiscal department has indicated that it will certainly review any future lease relationship between GCA (Golden Charter Academy) and its CEO and/or an entity controlled by the CEO.”

Golden said he is financially stable and is not trying to make money off the charter school. When a building is purchased, it would be leased back to the charter school at market value, he added.

“I give back to Fresno so much,” Golden told the Ed Lab. “I never charge anyone for the events I put on (football clinics and fitness classes). I plan to have a state-of-the-art facility. My intention is to purchase the facility, have it renovated, and leased back to the nonprofit. Just like any other person, if you buy a house and are going to lease the house back, you wouldn’t lease it with your name. You put it in an LLC and have that cooperation, then lease the property back.”

Discriminatory language removed at the last minute

The original lease Golden Charter had with the Fresno Diocese had some provisions Crawford said would have made the lease agreement illegal because it would’ve violated part of the education code that states schools need to be nonsectarian.

“Tenant acknowledges that teaching or advocating abortion, artificial means of contraception, and homosexuality as a lifestyle would be in conflict to the teachings and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church and would be a violation of this material covenant of this lease,” the original lease said.

Right before the FUSD board meeting started on Feb. 3, Golden said the Fresno Diocese agreed to take that language out of the lease. Golden Charter updated trustees on the change right before the vote. But for Mills and Islas, the damage was already done.

“It seems as though there were constant revisions every time a concern was raised, and it was a constant moving target,” Mills told the Ed Lab in an email. “It seems as though they were even revising during the board meeting by telling us the lease was going to be changed, but we had no documentation to that effect.”

Golden said he never had the intention to discriminate against LGBTQ students or any group of students, and that’s why he worked with the diocese to have that language taken out leading up to the vote.

Islas questioned why Golden Charter didn’t find that part of the lease to be problematic until the board raised questions about it.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California wrote a letter to Superintendent Bob Nelson before the meeting that said it was “alarmed” of the Diocese’s provision.

“All of Fresno Unified’s students, regardless of school site, have the right to be free from discrimination and to access to the information and resources they need to protect their health and well-being,” the letter said.

‘That was a complete witch hunt,’ Thomas says

Thomas told the Ed Lab that Golden was “targeted” by board members and said, “racism was taken to a new level.”

Thomas said other Black administrators in Fresno Unified reached out to her and said, “‘this is how we get treated in this district.’ Black employees saw that and were livid.”

“It would’ve been a deficit if Fresno Unified did not want to be a part of Golden Charter academy … and our kids weren’t able to attend a school like this,” Thomas said.

Islas said Golden being Black was not a motivating factor for voting against the petition. Almost all board members had questions for district staff throughout the petition process.

Mills did not respond to Thomas’ remarks about race.

Thomas said “that was a complete witch hunt” and board members asked for information that wasn’t required by other charters, like a copy of the lease agreement it had with the Diocese. She said board members were “nitpicking” at anything they could find.”

Fresno Unified doesn’t ask for lease agreements in every charter petition that comes before them. According to a staff report, in the last five years, “only (on) a couple of occasions” did the district request the lease.

Mills, however, disagreed with Thomas’ description of the board’s review.

In an email to the Ed Lab, Mills said “it seems that Golden Charter received less scrutiny than other charters because of the connection to Trustee Thomas.”

Although Islas said she doesn’t think it’s unreasonable for board members to ask about the lease, budget issues, and admission processes, among other things, she does see why Golden felt his petition was more scrutinized than other charters.

The FUSD board was initially scheduled to vote on Golden Charter’s petition on Jan. 13, but it was delayed because staff members gave board members the wrong petition with incorrect information.

District staff confirmed that they received Golden Charter’s revised petition before the Jan. 13 board meeting. Golden Charter agreed to give the district a 30-day extension so the board would have time to review the petitions with correct information.

“I think he (Golden) rightfully pointed out (during the meeting) where he feels the district did not give the board correct information … if I were him, I would have been equally frustrated by that,” Islas said.

The misinformation that came to the board was part of the reason why there has been so much scrutiny surrounding the petition, Thomas said, and Fresno Unified staff “completely dropped the ball.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab here.

This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.