It would be too difficult to start the new school year as a charter if they proceeded with an appeal now, petitioners say.
By Laura Tate / Editor
The petitioners working to attain charter status for Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School have decided to delay their petition to the state.
The Los Angeles Board of Education turned down their appeal earlier this month, after having been denied by the local school district board of education.
“While the charter process has often been grueling and felt unfair, the truth is that the school will be open next year, and that is a victory,” Robyn Ross and Ali Thonson, the lead petitioners, stated in a press release.
The petitioners met with the teachers of the school and decided to wait to appeal. They have 180 days from the date of denial to file an appeal. If the state were to approve the charter, it would most likely not take place until May, or more likely in July, said the petitioners, which would make it difficult to start the new school year as a charter in September.
They expressed regret to families of fifth graders at the school that they could not offer an option for 6th grade for the next school year. This was an aspect of the charter petition that worried some parents and educators at Malibu Middle School-that a new charter with a 6th grade option would drain students, and therefore resources, from Malibu High and Middle schools.
However, the petitioners stated in their press release that they believe a large portion of Point Dume’s graduating class will be attending private schools.
The application for charter status had divided many in the community, with many parents and educators saying such a move would drain the other local schools of students and funding. SMMUSD Superintendent Tim Cuneo was especially vocal against the school attaining charter status, appearing at all the L.A. Board of Education meetings to express his view.
The move to attain charter status began when, petitioners say, Cuneo said at a SMMUSD board meeting last year that closing Point Dume elementary was an option if the budget crisis worsened. Cuneo has denied saying this. The school had been closed once before.
It was Cuneo’s recommendation in a staff report to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education that the district deny the school charter status.
The district staff-prepared report recommended denying the proposed charter for, among other reasons: a lack of diversity commensurate with district standards, an unsatisfactory curriculum, greater stress on Point Dume teachers (who, the report said, would have a longer work year, no paid holidays and fewer personal leave days) and a funding shortfall of approximately $400,000.
Point Dume teachers helped the petitioners prepare the charter application.
The petitioners said that the staff report’s projected funding shortfall for the charter school was unfounded, and also maintained that funding from donors amounting to $500,000 would have kicked in after charter approval.
At the county level, staff said the petition did not offer sufficient student diversity or proof that it would improve student performance at the school, and that the petition’s reliance on private contributions for 20 percent of its budget did not constitute a sound financial plan. The report concluded that “the petitioners are unlikely to successfully implement the proposed educational programs.”