Sacramento district moves forward with Highlands school charter revocation process

Twin Rivers Unified School District will move forward with the charter revocation process against Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools, but district leaders are branding it as a final chance for the school to prove itself to be in legal and contractual compliance.

The district board of trustees voted 6-0 to send a notice of intent to revoke the charters of the nonprofit’s two schools.

“Ultimately our goal is to ensure all schools operating with Twin Rivers umbrella, whether district or charter, are honest stewards of public resources fully aligned with our shared commitment to ethical, lawful and high quality education for all,” Board President Christine Jeffries said. “We are not there yet. It is my hope that we get there.”

The notices include a number of violations Highlands needs to prove it has corrected, including several related to what grade levels the school is authorized to teach, properly recording instructional minutes and the school’s failure to submit an annual independent audit report.

The school is not just under fire from the school district. A state audit released in June found that the school received more than $180 million in inappropriate state funds, which the state is seeking to recoup from the charter. New Highlands CEO Jonathan Raymond disagrees with the cost calculated by the state and said that they are working to settle with them, “because it’s not zero, but it’s not $180 million.”

Highlands leaders will have the opportunity to present the case for their school in early December, giving leadership a chance to address the Twin Rivers board directly. The Twin Rivers board would then vote on its final determination by the end of the year or January 2026, if a 30-day extension is mutually agreed upon by both parties.

In discussion, Trustee Sasha Vogt said that the yearly oversight process was not enough to ensure Highlands corrects its violations, given Highlands’ many issues in the last year.

“My perspective is that if we abandon this process at this juncture, then we don’t really have a measurable roadmap to ensure oversight,” Trustee Sasha Vogt said.

Dozens of people turned out to the district’s board meeting Tuesday night to rally for the school, with many current and former students speaking to the value of the education provided by Highlands schools. Several held signs that read “stand for second chances” and “stand for immigrants.”

Valarii Romanenko, a student at the California Innovative Career Academy, said that the school helped him learn English and the skills necessary to support his family after immigrating to the United States last year.

“Our school is a bridge from despair to hope,” he said.

This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 2:47 PM.