After being denied in March, Nicky Ramos-Beban, executive director of Integrative Leadership Academy, with the support of several parents and teachers, submitted a revised proposal to build a new independent charter middle school as part of the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District. The SLVUSD board of trustees heard public comments on the petition at a board meeting on June 13.
“The parents want this to happen, and we would still love to work with the district,” Ramos-Beban said.
After being denied the first time in March, Ramos-Beban decided to modify the petition and address the points the district identified as problematic about the charter school’s proposal. According to the state’s education codes, in order for a petition to meet requirements it must contain signatures from at least half of the parents/guardians for the potential incoming class. On the first attempt to submit the petition, the district found there were not enough signatures to meet that requirement. So this time, Ramos-Beban ensured there were 50 signatures from parents of potential students and five signatures from potential teachers.
“We overdid it with signatures to show there is a ground swell of support for another middle school option,” Ramos-Beban said. According to her, the entering class for the middle school would be approximately 74 students.
Scotts Valley mother, Angie Pennington, said she appreciates having options when it comes to choosing the right school for her kids. Her son, who will be entering the sixth grade, is interested in project-based work and civil justice, something the Integrative Leadership Academy (ILA) would nurture and provide. An added benefit of charter schools is students outside of the residential area for a district can still apply.
“I am looking for some more balance; some project based work instead of busy work,” Pennington said. “An opportunity to establish more of a love to learning.”
ILA is a non-profit organization based in Boulder Creek aimed at giving kids an education that prepares them to become self-actualized, life-long learners and leaders. According to Ramos-Beban this would be the first school for ILA.
Other concerns the SLVUSD found with the petition in March were concerns of having a proper facility and financing. In the original petition, Ramos-Beban was asking for the use of Redwood Elementary. The district stated that was not a useable facility, so ILA partnered with Camp Harmon to gain permission to lease their classrooms for school use.
Since ILA is a non-profit, a large part of the funding for the new charter middle school would come from grant and donor funding. The district expressed concerns early on about the instability of funding coming from philanthropy. In an effort to address the board’s concerns, Ramos-Beban increased the school enrollment, in doing so it also increases funding from the state. Additionally, according to Ramos-Beban, ILA has a five-year guarantee of funding if the petition is approved.
Under the current charter with SLVUSD, Charter 25, there are seven programs (or schools) operating as dependent charters. The three middle school options include Nature Academy, Quail Hollow Integrated Arts, and Coast Redwood Middle School. However, according to Ramos-Beban the programs consistently have waitlists. Including another option for parents would be a “win-win” for the district, she said.
Ramos-Beban does not deny that nationwide, there have been some failed independent charters. But according to her, California has stricter accountability laws that help maintain charter schools in the state to high standards. An independent charter is still a public school, part of the school district in which it is under, but rather the funding from the state goes directly to the school.
“Charter schools are more accountable to the parents and kids on how they are spending the money,” Ramos-Beban, who has worked in public education for years as a teacher and later as principal, said. “I find in small charter schools, tax dollars are used more wisely.”
After hearing public comments at the June 13 meeting, the board of trustees has 30 days to respond. If the petition is denied by the SLVUSD a second time, Ramos-Beban stated the petition will go to Santa Cruz County, with the hopes the school could open in fall 2019.
“As a parent it is really nice to have choices,” said Pennington, who has a son entering the sixth grade.
