In response to the complaints raised by parents, on Tuesday of this week, our reporter visited Irvine International Academy (IIA) and met with Executive Director Amy Kernan and Principal Grant Schmitter, with soon-to-be Executive Director Stephanie Henny also present.
Regarding the controversial issues, the school administration provided responses.
1. Removal of the National Flag from Classrooms
Last August at the beginning of the school year, parents noticed the absence of the American flag in classrooms. Dr. Brien confirmed that the flag was not removed before his departure. Kernan explained, “It wasn’t until the end of summer that we acquired some additional classrooms, so about a week into the school year, some classrooms had not yet hung the flags, a parent and board member voluntarily bought flags to donate to these classrooms.”
2. Unsupervised Field Trips
During a trip to Disneyland, students aged 10 to 12 were divided into groups without a teacher accompanying them. Parents were informed that this was due to budget constraints, but in the budget approved by the board in August 2024, field trips were included.
Kernan confirmed that there were necessary chaperones on field trips. She stated that the school’s staffing was adequate, with “each of the 25 classrooms having 2 adult teachers (one of whom is an assistant), catering to students aged 4 (kindergarten) to 13-14 (8th grade).”
3. Changes in Sex Education Curriculum Materials
The school previously used the “HEART” curriculum—an authorized, neutral, and transparent sex education program. Kernan mentioned, “We are researching different materials like we would with any other curriculum, and the majority of Orange County (public) schools are using the ‘Positive Prevention Plus’ program, which complies with California’s educational laws and standards.”
She explained that the school would decide on the curriculum openly at a meeting, allowing parents to opt-out of the course, with most parents not exercising this option.
4. Frequent Requests for Students to Purchase Materials
Kernan clarified, “We provide all textbooks for free, but for instance, if we provide a novel, and a student wants to make annotations in the book, they can purchase it themselves; if not purchased, we will photocopy from the textbooks or teaching materials.”
Regarding inquiries on investigations into two parents and the public release of investigation results, Kernan responded, “I cannot comment on this issue.”
Kernan concluded by mentioning that Irvine International Academy received the 2024 California Distinguished School Award at an awards ceremony held by the California Department of Education last Friday, making it one of the two charter schools in Orange County to receive this award among about three hundred schools in California.
Chairman Ken L. Williams, Jr. of the Orange County Board of Education expressed great concern over the events at IIA. In a response letter to parents, he encouraged voters to first communicate with the Irvine International Academy Board of Directors; if issues were not resolved, they could file complaints again at the board’s monthly meetings.
IIA falls within the jurisdiction of Orange County’s first district, and Board member Jorge Valdes sent a letter to the IIA School Board on May 22, stating that this wasn’t the first time the Board received complaints about Dr. Kernan: two years ago, when she served as the principal of Oxford Prep Academy (also an authorized charter school by the Board), dozens of parents had complained about her leadership style and the school’s ideological planning.
1. Unauthorized removal of the national flag from classrooms. Valdes finds it difficult to term this as an unintentional mistake and wishes to know the identity of the person who removed the flag and demands an explanation.
2. Safety threats. A student threatened to kill another student, and the school only informed a certain grade level and contacted the Irvine police, who found the threat not credible. Valdes believes that reporting and conducting a threat assessment were appropriate, but effective communication with parents was lacking.
3. Transition from the “HEART” to the “Positive Prevention Plus” curriculum in sex education without parental consent and official approval from the school board, where Dr. Kernan only told parents that “HEART” did not meet legal requirements.
Valdes believes this indicates issues of confusion and lack of transparency in the school’s management. In sensitive topics like sex education, every effort should be made to ensure that curriculum changes are made in the most open and transparent manner. The new curriculum involving topics like “reproductive justice” and abortion, stemming from a certain ideology, has sparked strong protests among parents, who should have the option to choose supported materials.
4. Field trips. Valdes finds allowing 10 to 12-year-old children to freely roam at Disneyland indicates malpractice on the part of the school and staff, requesting specifics of this policy.
5. Purchase of materials. As a public charter school, students should not be charged for educational materials.
6. During break course periods, students use laptops unsupervised. Valdes inquires about the content of these courses and reasons for lack of supervision.
7. Dr. Kernan transitioning the 5th grade to a middle school learning format, where students move between classrooms and increase learning content independently, causing trouble for students with special needs.
8. Kernan independently selecting board members, raising conflict of interest issues, with Williams requesting the school to explain its decisions.
Valdes also reminded the school that during the review for renewal of charter qualifications, the Board would assess whether the school provided a good educational program for students. He expects the school to respond to the above-mentioned issues for consideration in formal committee discussions. The current stage is labeled as “communication”.