![\"Sacramento](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC00378-1024x683.jpg.webp\")
The Sacramento County Office of Education on Sept. 24, 2025. (Denis Akbari)<\/p>\nThe Abridged version:<\/p>\n
The Sacramento County Office of Education offered another chance to an embattled Sacramento charter school system, Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools.<\/p>\n
The adult education organization came under fire last summer when a state audit found a list of infractions. The Twin Rivers Unified School District board voted in January to revoke Highlands\u2019 charter.<\/p>\n
The county board\u2019s decision comes weeks ahead of a high-stakes election for two trustee seats. Local and state unions have criticized the current county board for being too favorable to charter schools in the past.<\/p>\n
The Sacramento County Office of Education offered another chance to an embattled Sacramento charter school under scrutiny for a laundry list of violations, including erroneously accepting millions of dollars in state funding.<\/p>\n
Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools, a system of adult education sites across the Sacramento area, came under fire last summer as result of a state audit. <\/p>\n
The Twin Rivers Unified School District, which oversees Highlands, gave the organization and its new leadership months to fix issues. Unsatisfied with the turnaround, trustees voted in January to revoke the charter.<\/p>\n
Officials from the charter school system appealed the decision to the Sacramento County Office of Education. Leaders appeared before the county board Tuesday night, arguing the school board made too hasty and harsh of a decision. <\/p>\n
Highlands supporters and opponents alike packed the board room. Former and current students spoke passionately about a school that offers a rare educational opportunity to immigrants, refugees and formerly incarcerated individuals. Employees of Twin Rivers and the county office schools denounced an organization riddled with egregious, wasteful spending of public funds.<\/p>\n
County leaders overturned the charter revocation in a 4-3 vote. <\/p>\n
\u201cA reasonable person would definitely not take away the ability of Highlands to do their job,\u201d said office of education trustee O. Alfred Brown Sr.<\/p>\n
Twin Rivers officials may appeal to the state board of education.<\/p>\n
The Sacramento County Office of Education on Sept. 24, 2025. (Denis Akbari)<\/p>\n
Long list of violations<\/p>\n
A state audit<\/a> last June revealed several infractions by Highlands and its former leadership. Those violations included wasteful spending, inaccurate attendance records and employing educators without proper credentials.<\/p>\n Over a two-year period, Highlands collected roughly $180 million in state funding that it was never eligible to receive, said Grant Parks, the California State Auditor, whose office conducted the report.<\/p>\n Twin Rivers did not come out unscathed, either. The report determined the school district fell short of its responsibilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Twin Rivers had conducted more thorough oversight,\u201d Parks wrote, \u201cit could have identified some of the violations we identified as part of our audit and taken action to address them earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n Twin Rivers trustees moved to shut it down<\/p>\n Members of the school board moved quickly after the audit\u2019s publication, giving Highlands until Sept. 26, 2025, to address each violation. In November, trustees determined there had not been enough evidence of progress by that deadline, and began the lengthy process of shutting down operations at the school.<\/p>\n