HUSD Questions Charter Schools

Charters Face Tough Questions From HUSD Board

During the January 14th Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) Board Meeting, two charter schools made their case to continue operating within the District. Twin Oaks Montessori and Leadership Public Schools Hayward presented why the Board should renew their charters. Despite vocal public support during the meeting, Board Members questioned how well the charters reflected the diversity of the District, especially in regards to English Language Learner, Special Education, and low-income students. 

What Is A Charter School?

According to the National Charter Schools Institute, Charter Schools are publicly funded schools that are not bound by the curricular mandates of regular public schools. They are often run by nonprofits with a specific focus area. Having only started in 1991, the Charter School Movement has grown immensely—over 9 million students are enrolled in charter schools across the country. 

Despite being free, charter schools selectively admit students via a lottery system. Despite some evidence suggesting that charter schools help close racial equity gaps, critics say that charter schools exclude some students through tactics like lengthy application processes. On top of that, critics argue that they pull students away from traditional public schools, which in California are funded almost exclusively by headcount. There are also allegations of high teacher turnover, and—until recently—charter schools had the ability to hire uncredentialed teachers. 

Parent, Student, and Employee Support

During the public comment periods, multiple parents, teachers, and students from the schools spoke in support of maintaining their charters. Parents frequently cited the benefits of having smaller class sizes, more student support, frequent communication, and a good relationship between the parents, students, and administration. 

Twin Oaks Montessori—whose program spans 1st through 12th grades—only enrolls around 640 students. For comparison to local elementary schools, which span TK-6th grades, Burbank Elementary enrolls 786 students according to the California Department of Education. Tyrrell Elementary serves around 588 students and Stonebrae serves 595 students. 

Leadership Public Schools Hayward served only 575 students in the 2024/25 Academic Year and, according to their website, has approximately 19 teachers. By comparison, Hayward High School enrolls about three times that amount—1667 students—with only 39 teachers. The ratio of students to teachers is significantly lower at charter schools, which—according to parent commenters—plays a big role in how academically successful their students are. 

Board Questions Demographics

Trustees April Oquenda and Austin Bruckner-Carrillo asked hard questions about the demographic make-up of the charter schools and their admission practices. Trustee Oquenda opened by questioning a statement made by the presenters for Twin Oaks Montessori. “You said you accept all students who would like to attend,” she said. “I’m assuming you still operate on a lottery system, so I guess this means anyone can apply?” 

She then honed in on the lack of Special Education students compared to the District as a whole and the apparent lack of programming designed to attract them. The presenters said that laws barred Twin Oaks from granting preference to English Language Learner or Special Education students, but are doing outreach to those groups. However Trustee Oquenda asked, “What programming are you offering to make it more attractive to families with English Language Learners and Special Education families?” The presenter did not have an answer.

Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo pointed out that White students are disproportionately represented at Twin Oaks—over 18% of students compared to 3% district-wide—and that Latine students were disproportionately suspended. “You have 307 [Latine] students, which is almost half of your student population, but 72% of your suspensions are Hispanic or Latino,” he said, calling it a “concerning trend.” 

Trustee Ken Rawdon called out the admittance practices of Twin Oaks. “It’s very difficult to argue with success and you obviously have a lot of success,” he said. “But I also know that you’re set up for success, so why shouldn’t you have success?” 

For Leadership Public Schools, Trustee Oquenda also highlighted the demographic issues among Special Education and English Language Learner students. “It is better than what we previously saw from the previous charter school,” she said, but insisted it was still an issue. 

Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo expressed concern about cherry-picked data and a drastic drop in post-secondary outcomes over the last 6 years—from over 90% college-enrolled students after High School to around 65%. The presenter didn’t have an answer and suggested COVID may have played a role. But Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo pointed out that other low-income and minority-serving schools had steady rates over the same period. “And I believe they also went through a global pandemic,” he said, highlighting the charter’s $20,000,000 in reserves. 

Making Hayward More Business-Friendly

During the January 22nd Planning Commission meeting, Commissioners took another look at the Business Friendly Hayward initiative that seeks to make it more attractive for businesses in Hayward. 

The Planning Commission first looked at this in August, where some Commissioners questioned whether the initiative was meant to serve local residents or draw people in from farther afield, as well as how Accessory Commercial Units (ACUs)—small-scale businesses attached to a home—would work with unlicensed street vendors. Shortly afterward in September, the City Council said that Hayward should feel more like the College Town that it is and how beneficial it would be to remove red tape that may be a barrier to businesses. 

Making Adjustments

Since September, the plan only changed in a few ways. Land uses have been consolidated in many ways for flexibility and to make it easier to read. “When new types of businesses enter the market,” Senior Planner Elizabeth Blanton said, “staff can flexibly figure out where they best fit within the code.” 

Staff also suggested relaxing permitting for a number of businesses, including businesses serving beer, wine and cider, distilleries, animal care facilities, tattoo shops, daycares, recreational facilities, and cultural facilities and community centers. Cultural facilities will only be allowed to have events lasting until 11pm and be more general use focused as opposed to 21-and-over events.

Staff recommended stricter controls on massage businesses and data centers. Data centers are currently classified as an office, despite employing very few on-site workers. The change would limit data centers to “General Industrial” which has fewer sites around the City. 

Small-scale entertainment would be easier to host, like karaoke and live music, and temporary use activities—like pop-up shops—would have a more simplified and lower-cost permitting process. 

Lastly, ACUs would be allowed in a restricted area as part of a pilot program. They would be allowed in the Downtown Specific Plan area and Mission Boulevard zones. “These areas are already busy and generally have a higher population than your standard low-density residential neighborhood,” Senior Planner Blanton said. The business types would also be heavily restricted and all dine-in uses would be banned. 

Data Centers Need More Flexibility

Commissioner Robert Stevens, who has been a vocal proponent of data centers in the past, said that the proposed changes for data center zoning are too restrictive. He pointed out that small-scale data centers may not have their own power generation and may synergize with other businesses that won’t be allowed in the proposed zones. “To limit data centers to the IG district is overly restrictive and also doesn’t accommodate the future changes of how we may produce power,” he said. 

Commissioner Stevens recognized that data centers have an environmental impact, but said, “Our world doesn’t work without the data center.” He dismissed service businesses, like restaurants and child care, as “soft businesses” and said “They’re not earth-shattering businesses… they don’t change the face of the city… I would make sure we invest in what a real business is for the future.” 

Other Commissioners agreed that the changes were too restrictive and suggested that the Conditional Use Permit process could be used to address impacts on the City and local businesses. 

Push And Pull On ACUs

The desire to implement Accessory Commercial Units (ACUs) became mired in the debate over street vendors. Staff pointed out that the plan was designed to specifically exclude street vendors, with a specific prohibition on seating and limits on business types. “You could not stay on the premises and drink the coffee,” Planning Manager Jeremy Lochirco said, “You’d have to leave. We intentionally made the uses so that sidewalk vendors would be precluded from this.” 

Some on the Commission were concerned about the pilot area. When Commissioner Jeffrey Haman asked about suitable sites in the Downtown area, Senior Planner Blanton said, “There are some.” Commissioner Vasko Yorgov said, “The great promise of ACUs is allowing for a gentle increase of mixed uses in predominantly residential neighborhoods.” He pointed out that the pilot areas have another issue, “These are areas that already have a lot of density of businesses and services.” 

Commissioner Yorgov suggested having a broader set of definitions for businesses using ACUs, like small-scale repair businesses. He suggested a shift from only allowing certain businesses, to listing undesirable businesses and allowing everything else. 

However, not all Commissioners were sold on ACUs. Chair Anika Hardy said, “I don’t share the same enthusiasm.” She felt it was a barrier to activating existing vacant storefronts. “I really want to see us fill the storefronts first,” she said, while also expressing concern about food safety “and other things.”