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IDEA Public Schools gets partial state approval for Texas expansion amid scrutiny - Houston Chronicle

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Texas Education Agency officials will allow IDEA Public Schools to add 12 schools next year and increase its maximum enrollment by about 15,000 students — roughly half of what the state’s largest charter network requested amid scrutiny over its spending practices.

The decision comes after TEA officials raised questions about IDEA’s administrative, governance and financial record following multiple media reports on the charter’s spending. IDEA has drawn criticism over the past year after the disclosure of its since-abandoned plans to lease a charter jet, spending on luxury boxes at San Antonio’s AT&T Center and a $900,000 separation agreement with former CEO Tom Torkelson.

IDEA officials had hoped to open 27 schools next year and raise the network’s enrollment cap from 63,200 to 98,000. TEA leaders must approve the addition of campuses and maximum enrollment of all state charter operators.

TEA greenlit the addition of two schools on a single Houston-area site, which will be located near U.S. 90 and Lake Houston Parkway in eastern Harris County. State officials rejected the opening of a site in southern Houston.

IDEA CEO and Superintendent JoAnn Gama said she did not receive an explanation from state officials about their decision, but the charter’s leaders “weren’t surprised” with the verdict.

“I think it’s very understandable that they’re closely looking, closely monitoring,” Gama said. “We want to make sure we’re working with them and doing right by taxpayer dollars, students and families.”

IDEA enrolled about 66,400 students to start the 2020-21 school year, roughly 17,000 more than last year. The network has rapidly expanded over the past decade, with campuses in its Rio Grande Valley home base, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, the Permian Basin and Louisiana. IDEA also opened its first four schools at two sites in Greater Houston this year.

IDEA boasts some of Texas’ strongest academic results for Latino and lower-income children, who comprise the large majority of its students. About 99 percent of IDEA seniors graduate from high school and more than 90 percent enroll in college, both first among large Texas districts with similar demographics.

IDEA Public Schools CEO and Superintendent JoAnn Gama, pictured here in 2019, said the charter network’s leaders were not surprised that the Texas Education Agency did not grant its full expansion request this year in light of scrutiny over its spending practices.

The charter faces strong opposition, however, from some education advocates and unions, who say IDEA unnecessarily siphons money away from traditional public schools. They also argue that IDEA’s college-focused academic program screens out students with greater academic and behavioral needs, artificially inflating its results.

“The (Texas education) commissioner should have grounded IDEA’s expansion plans in Texas and kept them grounded, at least until school districts had time to recover from the COVID economic downturn, which may require several years,” Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina said in a statement.

In light of the spending criticism, IDEA officials hired governance and management consultants, made about 30 policy changes and added more board oversight of finances.

Gama said IDEA leaders plan to apply for expansion again in 2021, aiming to open many of the campuses that were rejected by TEA officials.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com

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IDEA Public Schools gets partial state approval for Texas expansion amid scrutiny - Houston Chronicle
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