Families, students and faculty from KIPP Stockton Middle School rallied on Monday, calling on the Stockton Unified School District Board to approve a new high school location at University Park to avoid closing the middle school and displacing hundreds this fall.
The rally, which drew a crowd of more than 100, comes amid ongoing uncertainty after a January board vote on the high school charter petition ended in a 3-3 split, with one trustee recusing themselves. The inaction left the school’s location undecided. KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) warns of contingency plans that could displace students and staff.
The SUSD board members voting “yes” (which was denied) were trustees Sofia Colon, Shauna Priest and Patrick Martin. The no’s were board members Donald Donaire, Kennetha Stevens and Frank Silva. Trustee Isabel Perez was not present during the vote.
The San Joaquin County Superintendent of Schools, Troy A. Brown, directed the board to re-agendize the item for a Tuesday vote during the next SUSD meeting. Without approval or clear denial, KIPP says it may need to close KIPP Stockton Middle School to make space for high school growth.
During the rally, MacKenzie Hennessy, KIPP director of policy and advocacy, explained the consequences of a no vote in the upcoming meeting.
“We do not have an approved location for our high school, despite being approved to open a high school in 2019,” Hennessy said. “In the event Stockton Unified doesn’t approve our high school location, we’d have to close our middle school.”
She added that students would be encouraged to apply to KIPP University Park Middle, an existing school that could face space issues.
If approved, the high school would operate at University Park, keeping the middle school open. A denial allows a county appeal, but timelines might still force closure. Another split creates maximum uncertainty, as facilities require months of planning.
Itzel Velazquez, 9th grader at KIPP High School, emphasized the size of how KIPP schools have helped students who need more time with their teacher to understand a subject or issues.
“I serve as student body president at KIPP Stockton High School, I’m here to represent my school, and my Stockton community,” Velazquez said. “Our school is smaller, teachers and staff are able to focus on individual students. They take time to understand what we need in order to succeed, even through challenges the staff continues to push forward and remain involved with students.”
Stockton City Councilmember, Brando Villapudua, represents the district that encompasses the middle school. He arrived in a show of support for KIPP and called on the school board to approve the high school.
“You (SUSD) have no other reason for you sustaining your vote, and as a council representative here, I’m going to be supporting the school, the parents and the kids,” Villapudua said. “I spoke to some of the trustees already, and some are ready to do the right thing. I can’t speak about the rest, because I can’t speak to all of them because there’s a Brown Act, but I have one person that I had to make that tough call, and that’s trustee Isabel Perez. I hope she does the right thing tomorrow.”
The councilmember is expected to be at the SUSD board meeting on Tuesday.
In 2019, Stockton Unified approved KIPP to operate a full transitional kindergarten through 12th-grade (TK-12) educational pathway in South Stockton, creating a seamless continuum for local students. Since then, KIPP has opened its middle school in 2021, elementary school in 2024 and launched its first ninth-grade class in the 2025-26 school year, according to a KIPP press release.
Initially, KIPP planned to house all schools at the Conway Homes campus, but external factors made that unfeasible, according to the press release. After reviewing dozens of options, KIPP secured a three-acre parcel in the University Park neighborhood, which fits the charter’s geographic focus.
The proposed address was part of a charter renewal, but the board removed it while approving the renewal, limiting operations to existing sites. KIPP then submitted a new petition in November 2025 to secure the University Park location to enable long-term facilities, according to a press release from KIPP.