A second attempt to propose a new charter middle school within the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District fell short, as the petition was denied again last week.
At a special meeting of the SLVUSD Board of Trustees on July 26, an executive summary was presented on why the petition for an Integrative Leadership Academy (ILA) in the district was recommended to be denied.
Several reasons were listed by the school district on why the petition for the charter school was recommended to be rejected, including, the petition was deemed by the district to be “unlikely to be successful,” the program for ILA presented an “unsound educational program,” and its financial plan lacked appropriate detail.
The SLVUSD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to deny the petition. Despite resubmitting a revised petition after the first denial in March, according to the Board of Trustees, the new school’s proposal still lacked standing.
ILA is a non-profit, based in Boulder Creek, and this would have been the first charter school for the organization. Executive Director of ILA, Nicky Ramos-Beban, has been working with parents and community members for about a year to present a petition that could be approved for the independent charter school.
Since the first denial in March, Ramos-Beban, who has a strong background in education and working with charter schools, worked to address what previous concerns the district found in the original petition. A few examples of the adjustments made included in the second petition included: increasing the incoming class of students from 50 to 74, changing venues from the using Redwood Elementary to the facilities at Camp Harmon, and more clearly outlining how the organization’s philanthropy could pay for the school in addition to the state funding.
But despite the second petition, the SLVUSD board of trustees stated the while ILA “appeared well-versed in current educational trends,” there is a lack of detail regarding how it will coordinate the curriculum to deliver a sufficient overall sustainable program. The board went on to find various faults in the petition regarding it not providing comprehensive descriptions of ILA’s educational program.
However according to Ramos-Beban the district’s findings were inaccurate and false.
“Previously their findings were based on logic. This time it appeared that the review was not thorough or accurate,” Ramos-Beban said a day after the meeting. “We were disappointed the board was not interested in reviewing the inaccuracies.”
Prior to the meeting on July 26, Ramos-Beban sent the district a letter outlining what she found as at “least a dozen factual errors and erroneous conclusions.”
After the second denial of the petition to join the SLVUSD, Ramos-Beban and ILA will now work towards filing a petition with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. If the petition is approved by the County, enrollment for ILA will start in fall of 2019 with classes happening at the facility in Camp Harmon.
This is not the only charter school petition in the area that has faced setbacks. A few months ago, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District rejected a petition by a charter school organization that hoped to open a new school in Watsonville for the 2019-20 school year. The appeal for that charter is in August.
“I am confident that the strength of our program is event and the ground swell support of our parents will honored by the county board of education,” Ramos-Beban said.
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.
