Photos courtesy of New City School.

The California State Board of Education voted yesterday to uphold the Long Beach Unified School District’s (LBUSD) recommendation to decline the renewal of the school’s charter, effectively closing the K-8 school and displacing its 400-plus students.

New City has provided dual language immersion programs to its students for 15 years. Its charter expired June 30.

“We’re thankful that the state board has upheld our recommendation on this matter,” said LBUSD Director of Public Information Chris Eftychiou. “We’ll work closely with the New City students and their families to provide enrollment options for the new school year.”

As a charter school, New City is subject to charter renewal every five years. Its renewal was denied by the LBUSD school board in December 2014, and when appealed, resulted in a deadlocked vote by the Los Angeles County Board of Education in March—in part because one of the county’s board members was absent for the vote.

The school has been the subject of corrective action by the LBUSD since 2011, with the school district citing gaps in the school’s Academic Performance Index (API). 

New City’s closure means over 400 students will need to find placement at new schools, and its 47 full- and part-time employees will be without jobs.

“Because the employees belong to New City and not the school district, we’ll defer to the charter school on plans for the employees,” said Eftychiou.