Charter school struggles to find a home
By: Will Reisman
Examiner Staff Writer
June 11, 2009
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| Out of the way: The Summit Institute’s Dianne Tavenner visits a construction site in East Palo Alto that Everest Public High School rejected as inadequate for its student body. (Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner) |
REDWOOD CITY — It wasn’t difficult to persuade John Avilla and his son Andrew to enroll the teenager at Everest Public High School, a new charter school set to open its doors this fall in San Mateo County.
“Andrew’s eyes just lit up when he listened to the people from Summit speak,” Avilla said. “And we as a family all got real excited when we heard about their track record and their really innovative ideas about education.”
The fact that the administration was eyeing an Everest location in Redwood City, just down the road from the family’s home, only added to the school’s appeal, Avilla said.
The family’s plans, along with the school’s, recently hit a snag, however, when Sequoia Union High School District officials denied Everest’s request to establish its institution on the campus of one of the district’s existing high schools, Sequoia High. Instead the district announced it was going to place the school eight miles away from Redwood City in East Palo Alto, at an abandoned site once eyed by the district for an adult education center.
District spokeswoman Bettylu Smith said the district made the decision because it had already purchased most of the facilities needed for a school, and that funding new endeavors would be especially costly, given the recent state cuts for education.
This is not the first conflict between the school district and the charter school. In September, the district board rejected Everest’s petition to open the new charter school, saying the school was not needed; months later, the San Mateo County Board of Education also denied the request.
In March, the California Board of Education overruled the local decisions, however, requiring that the Sequoia Union High School District find a home for Everest.
Charter schools first took root in California after a state law was passed in 1992 establishing principles for the new schools, which are supported by public funds but operate autonomously from other district schools. Supporters say these conditions help the schools explore new educational practices and speed up school reform. Like other public schools, students do not pay to attend charter schools, which often feature specialized educational focuses and are not regulated as strictly by local school authorities.
The situation between Everest and the district highlights the tensions between charter schools and school boards.
After the state ruling, Sequoia’s district superintendent, Patrick Gemma, said in a statement that the state’s charter-school law had a “serious flaw” with regard to accountability.
“Taxpayer dollars leave the authorizing school district, which is overseen by an elected board of trustees, and are transferred to charter schools run by private organizations,” Gemma said.
When charter and comprehensive schools within the same district work together, they are usually a potent agent of education reform, but in many cases the institutions form a combative relationship, said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a nationwide organization.
“Charter schools usually can employ best practices quicker, and highlight successful tactics that comprehensive schools could adopt,” said Wise, the former governor of West Virginia. “But there is animosity sometimes because districts feel that charters have greater flexibility but without the same standards.”
David Miller, the superintendent at the San Mateo Union High School District, which recently rejected a bid from a Southern California-based charter foundation, said charter schools are helpful when they fill a need, but at other times they can be an unnecessary drain on district resources.
“Having charter schools adds to the responsibility of the school districts,” Miller said. “And that can be extremely challenging, especially when the districts are faced with draconian funding cuts at the state level.”
Dianne Tavenner, chief executive officer of the Summit Institute, which proposed the school, said it wouldn’t have cost the district any money to put Everest at Sequoia High School, which has available classrooms and 26 acres of land at its Redwood City site.
“The mission of our school is to serve a heterogeneous student body that is reflective of the district’s population,” Tavenner said. “Redwood City is the largest city and is the center of our district, so it makes sense to locate there. East Palo Alto is in the furthest, southernmost area of the district, and would be a major inconvenience for many parents to get their children there.”
Unconvinced that the East Palo Alto location would be able to adequately serve its student body, Everest declined the district’s location offer, and is now looking for a new location, according to Tavenner.
One of the sites being pursued is an office building in Redwood City that would cost $2.3 million to operate.
Under state laws that require school districts to provide equal funding for both charter and comprehensive schools, Everest officials want the district to reimburse the costs for the Redwood City building. Sequoia is disputing the claim at the state level, saying the building is an unnecessary expense, Smith said.
The tentative status of the school’s location has created a stressful situation for parents of students already accepted for the fall.
“The East Palo Alto site is inconvenient and cut off from any reasonable public transportation, but we would still send our son to Everest, wherever it is located within the district,” said William Garnsey, who has enrolled his son Grant at Everest.
“The East Palo Alto site is just a particularly poor choice — maybe the name of the school could be changed to Siberia,” he said.
Tavenner said she is confident Everest will have a site come August.
“We will find a new location and be ready for the upcoming school year,” she said.
Charters look beyond local level for help
Everest Public High School is not the only charter school to experience rejection by local school authorities in San Mateo County.
The Magnolia Educational and Science Foundation — which currently operates five schools in Southern California with four more to open, including one in Santa Clara — had a charter school petition rejected last year by the San Mateo Union High School District.
San Mateo district Superintendent David Miller said the charter school did not meet any special needs of the community, and that allocating per-pupil funding for the school would be difficult under the current budget restraints and state cuts.
Undeterred by the district decision, the Magnolia Foundation turned to the California Board of Education and received authorization to open 10 new charter schools anywhere in the state during the next six years. The foundation can locate its schools within any district without seeking approval at the local level, according to Joseph Hurmali, the foundation’s president.
One of Magnolia’s new charters — to be called the Pacific Knowledge School — will be in East Palo Alto, in a location that is still being determined, Hurmali said.
When Magnolia is ready to open its Peninsula charter school, it will only have to give the school district four months notice, per state law, he said.
“Our schools are thriving all over California, and we have data to back that up,” Hurmali said. “The state recognizes that, so we don’t need to seek approval at the local level anymore.”
Too far: John Avilla wants to send his son Andrew to Everest Public High School, but the charter school is having difficulty securing a convenient location. (Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner)
Charter schools take root
Two charter schools that are scheduled to open their doors in San Mateo County in the coming months:
Everest High School
- Opening: Fall 2009
- Location: To be determined; possibilities include Redwood City and East Palo Alto
- Students: 100 in inaugural freshman class
- Operated by: Summit Institute
- Other schools: Summit Preparatory Charter School in Redwood City
Pacific Knowledge School
- Opening: Fall 2010
- Location: East Palo Alto
- Students: To be determined
- Operated by: Magnolia Educational and Science Foundation
- Other schools: Five open, four new, 10 more approved
Sources: Summit Institute, Magnolia Educational and Science Foundation, California Charter Schools Association
A different education
Charter schools first started appearing in California in 1992.
Charter schools in San Mateo County
14
Public schools in San Mateo County
185
Charter schools in California
750
Public schools in California
9,846
Source: California Department of Education, San Mateo County Office of Education
wreisman@sfexaminer.com
