An East Bay charter school forced to shutter earlier this year is suing Oakland Unified School District, alleging district leaders unlawfully denied its renewal.
The 18-year-old Oakland charter school, Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Academy, is asking the Alameda County Superior Court to compel the district and the California Department of Education to renew its charter through June 30, 2031.
The lawsuit comes as Aspire GSP has run out of nonjudicial appeals in its bid to stay open — including reviews by the county and a first-of-its-kind appeal to the State Board of Education.
In the final administrative review of the district’s decision to close the school, the State Board of Education decided in July to take no action on the charter’s request to overturn the district’s and Alameda County Office of Education’s decisions. It marked the first state-level charter school appeal since new charter school legislation, Assembly Bill 1505, passed in 2019.
The suit alleges Oakland Unified, the chartering authority, and the California Department of Education, the state agency that enforces regulations, failed to follow proper procedures when denying Aspire GSP’s renewal.
“Our priority has always been the students and families we serve, and we believe this action is necessary to uphold their interests and ensure accountability in the charter renewal process,” Aspire Public Schools said in a statement Thursday.
Oakland Unified School District and the California Department of Education declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
The Oakland Unified school board denied the charter’s renewal petition in October 2025 in a 4-3 vote, saying neighborhood schools would better serve students. Members cited data showing the charter school students’ declining math and English language arts proficiency and a drop-off in the number of graduates attending college — despite Oakland Unified Office of Charter Schools staff recommending renewal. The school had 405 students in 6th through 12th grades in the 2024-2025 academic year.
Aspire GSP countered that the decision relied on a narrow interpretation of academic performance data and selectively compared it to schools that would make Aspire GSP seem weaker.
Advocates argued that among socioeconomically disadvantaged youth — 95% of the charter’s student population — Aspire GSP outperformed Oakland Unified in five of six metrics, including English Language Arts test scores, English learner progress, college or career readiness, chronic absenteeism and graduation rate.
After the denial, Aspire GSP appealed the decision to the Alameda County Board of Education, which upheld Oakland Unified’s decision in a 5-2 vote.
Then, Aspire GSP turned to the State Board of Education to overturn both denials. But state board members, with a narrow legal scope to rule under legislation passed in 2019 and a lack of state guidance on how to determine students’ best interests, voted to take no action on the appeal.
The lawsuit claims that since Oakland Unified “did not make timely findings to deny” the charter’s renewal, the charter school was automatically renewed by operation of law.
The lawsuit points to regulations adopted by the State Board of Education in 2011, which allow for the automatic renewal of a charter school if a school district fails to make written factual findings to support a denial within 60 days of the district’s receipt of a petition for renewal.
Aspire GSP’s lawsuit alleges that the district’s school board failed to make written factual findings within the mandated 60-day timeframe after receiving Aspire GSP’s petition on Aug. 1, 2025.
While the Oakland Unified school board held a public hearing on the charter’s renewal before the 60-day timeline ended on Sept. 30, 2025, the lawsuit claims the district did not post a staff report with its written findings until Oct. 6, 2025.
Aspire GSP said in the lawsuit that the charter school appealed Oakland Unified’s decision to deny its charter renewal, despite already being renewed under state regulations, to the Alameda County Board of Education and, later, the State Board of Education, “in an abundance of caution.”
The charter school said in its lawsuit that, along with Oakland Unified, Aspire GSP told the Alameda County Office of Education, the State Board of Education and the California Department of Education that Aspire GSP’s renewal petition had been approved under state regulations, but each failed to recognize its renewal.
Aspire GSP is asking the court to direct Oakland Unified and the California Department of Education to deem its charter petition renewed through 2031, and to be awarded relief, including costs and attorneys’ fees.