Spark Charter School has new leadership only two months into its inaugural year.
Principal Danni Tsai is out nearly a month after questions were raised over teacher and staff background checks follwoing the arrest of an 18-year-old lunchtime monitor on suspicion of molesting a student.
Tsai resigned last week as the school’s founding principal-superintendent “to spend more time with her family and explore other opportunities,” according to a press statement from Spark’s board of directors.
“We were very grateful for all that she did and the fact that she brought Spark from a vision to an existing school. So we’re very thankful for her all of her work,” Spark’s board president Alexandra Zdravkovic told this newspaper.
William Overton was selected by the board earlier this week to fill Tsai’s previous role. His first day on the job was Oct. 6.
Overton has more than 35 years experience as both a teacher and administrator in the Palo Alto Unified School District. Overton comes to Spark with experience developing and implementing social-emotional learning practices, project-based instruction and “whole-child” student-centered curriculum, according to the Spark board. “Bill Overton has a wealth of experience working with and leading a school that shares a similar philosophy as Spark in terms of social-emotional and project-based learning,” Zdravkovic said. “I’m delighted to have Mr. Overton be with us and share his experience.”
Overton has spent the last several years as an educational consultant and has been mentoring teachers and delivering presentations on topics in line with the Spark Charter School mission.
“I feel fortunate to be working at a school that shares my vision for what the best environment is for kids to learn and thrive in,” said Overton in a press statement. “I feel lucky to be surrounded by a community that is so dedicated and committed to providing the best education for their children.”
Outside the classroom, Spark Charter has had a rocky start to its inaugural year. Spark suspended classes Sept. 21-24 after the school could not prove that all of its employees had passed required background checks.
The issue came to light after the Sept. 15 arrest of Jonathan Chow, the 18 year-old lunchtime aide employed by the school. Chow was arrested for allegedly luring an 8-year-old student to a secluded area at the school and molesting her. According to a Bay Area News Group report, Chow told police he got the job at Spark Charter School through a friend who knew the principal.
County Office of Education officials visited the school after Chow’s arrest requested the school close immediately or risk having its charter revoked. The Santa Clara County Board of Education approved Spark’s charter last year. Staff from the Santa Clara County Office of Education later validated that Spark had complied with procedures required by state law and contained in its charter concerning background checks and TB clearances for its employees. Records were also reviewed to ensure that all teachers were appropriately credentialed.
Spark Charter School is independently operated and governed by a nonprofit board of directors. The school occupies space at Columbia Middle School in Sunnyvale.
The road to Spark’s first year of operation has been a long one. Sunnyvale School District granted the charter school conditional approval in the fall of 2014 but ended up revoking the approval in April of the same year, citing the school’s “failure to comply” with standards that the district asked them to meet. Spark appealed the decision to the Santa Clara County Office of Education, which approved the opening of the school.
Chow, a Cupertino High School graduate, has been charged with five felonies, including sexual penetration of a child under the age of 10, possessing more than 600 images of child pornography, inducing a minor’s involvement in child pornography and two counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child by force, violence, duress or fear, according to a report by Bay Area News Group.
Chow is scheduled too appear in court Oct. 16 for a plea.
