Point Dume charter petitioners will delay petition to state

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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 had 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 stated in a press release.

The petitioners had 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 a an option for 6th grade for 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 this.

The move to attain charter status began when, petitioners say, Cuneo had 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 has been closed once before.