District to scrutinize charter proposal

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- With less than two weeks to go before a crucial public

hearing on a charter school proposal submitted by parents, Newport-Mesa

Unified School District officials are carefully scrutinizing the

document.

And unless they find major problems, state law requires that they

approve the charter.

The requirements are vague enough, however, that proponents are

staying on their toes.

“If the thing is legally sound, they are bound by law to approve it,

but if they find loopholes that may cause them legal liability, they are

still the ones that could be held responsible,” said John Daffron,

principal author of the proposal and principal of the proposed charter

school.

School board members have until Dec. 27 to approve or reject a

petition submitted last month that calls for the creation of Mesa

Leadership Academy. The deadline may be extended if petitioners ask for

extra time to rework the document after the public hearing Dec. 5.

Proponents hope to open the academy in September, with about 320

students in kindergarten through third grade. Fourth and fifth grades are

planned to be added over the next two years.

Charter schools are public institutions that usually are organized by

local groups of parents, teachers or community leaders.

The specific goals and operating procedures are detailed in an

agreement, or “charter,” with the local school board.

In Newport-Mesa, the district’s close scrutiny of Mesa Leadership

Academy’s charter is more than officials just covering their bases, said

Supt. Robert Barbot.

“If we have a charter school, we want a top-notch charter school,” he

said.

That is why Barbot and his staff have taken the 42-page proposal and

are examining it to make sure it meets the 14 required elements of a

charter petition, which also are dictated by state law.

At the public hearing, Barbot will give a full report on how sound the

district staff found the charter to be. Those findings then will dictate

the next course of action.

“One of three things could happen,” he said. “It could be the perfect

proposal and it could pass right there. They could shoot it down, but

that is not our intention. Or, what I see happening is we will offer

feedback that they will be able to address and make corrections. We will

tell them exactly what they need to do.”

Charter school advocates said they are open to all discussions with

district officials.

“We want to create a school that is sound in all respects,” said Kara

Chitjian Handy, president of the charter’s executive board.

“We’re willing to hear what it is the district would like to see and

what our areas of strength and weaknesses are.

“All these points need to be addressed at one time or another and we’d

like to do it now.”

FYI

A public hearing on Mesa Leadership Academy will be held at 7 p.m.

Dec. 5 at the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Education Center,

2895-A Bear St., Costa Mesa.

CHARTER SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS

Each charter school petition must contain reasonably comprehensive

descriptions of each of 14 required elements:

1. A description of the school’s educational program.

2. The measurable student outcomes identified for use by the school.

3. The method by which student progress in meeting those student

outcomes is to be measured.

4. The school’s governance structure, including parental involvement.

5. The qualifications to be met by individuals employed by the school.

6. Procedures to ensure health and safety of students and staff

members.

7. The means by which the school will achieve racial and ethnic

balance among its students, reflective of the general population in the

district.

8. Admission requirements, if applicable.

9. The manner in which annual financial audits will be conducted and

the manner in which audit exceptions and deficiencies will be

resolved.

10. The procedures by which students may be suspended or expelled.

11. Provisions for employee coverage under the State Teachers

Retirement System, the Public Employees Retirement System or federal

Social Security system.

12. The public school alternatives for students in the district who

choose not to attend a charter school.

13. A description of the rights of any employee of the school district

upon leaving the employment of the school district to work in a charter

school, and of any rights of return to the school district after

employment at a charter school.

14. A dispute resolution process.