Charter school scuffle continues Charter school scuffle continues (March 28, 2003)

Los Altos School District, Hills parents debate Bullis site

By Julie O'Shea

The Los Altos School District stands to lose $480,000 a year in state funding if a proposed charter school is approved, administrators said this week.

That's in addition to the tens of thousands of dollars in rent the district estimates it will forfeit if a "public private school" was to go in at the Bullis Elementary campus, which the school board in February voted to close in order to save money.

But parents eager to open a charter school at the site -- the only public school in Los Altos Hills -- say that's a small price to pay for quality education delivered close to home.

Although the charter school would essentially be a separate entity from the rest of the Los Altos School District, its finances would still be subject to district review and approval.

The proposed arrangement would have the district lose $1,600 per student for 300 students, said Superintendent Marge Gratiot. That would mean a $480,000 loss from the district's current operating budget of $30 million.

Gratiot said she also anticipates special education funding to take a huge hit, "as the district is responsible for the special education costs of students attending the charter school, even if the students reside outside of district boundaries."

"I don't see how this can be a win-win. It sounds like a lose-lose to me," district parent David Luskin said last week. "It places an undue burden on schools, and we don't want it."

However, Los Altos Hills City Council member and charter school backer Breene Kerr told the school board "to keep an open mind."

"There is a waiting list for this school district," he said. "I think we can certainly avoid a lose-lose."

Kerr and his supporters will present their case to the school board during a public hearing March 31 at Blach Middle School, 1120 Covington Road in Los Altos. The time of the meeting was not available at press time.

Approval questions

While charter school law prohibits trustees from rejecting a proposal because of financial reasons, the board must approve the location of the school.

And last week, the board said no to the Bullis site, which is the district's smallest campus and the only one in Los Altos Hills.

"We are not against charter schools," school board President Duane Roberts said. But "we want to use the Bullis site as a revenue generating site."

The school district is currently studying uses for the Fremont Road campus, but Roberts said one thing is for certain: Bullis won't be used as a public school for at least six years. This came on the November recommendation of the district's finance committee, Roberts said.

District officials estimated Bullis could fetch around $150,000 for its permanent classrooms. The neighboring Mountain View-Whisman School district rents out the former Whisman School site on Easy Street to the German School of Silicon Valley. The German School has a 20-year lease and pays $640,000 a year in rent, according to Mountain View-Whisman's finance chief Rebecca Wright.

This may seem like a good chuck of change but not when compared to the annual $1 million the district was raking in from its previous tenent -- a private Christian school with a two year lease.

"That was a different economy," Wright said.

The Whisman building is 28,300 square feet whereas the Bullis school is 14,514 square feet. This number doesn't include the school's portable buildings.

A PR stunt?

Backers of the charter petition are calling the Los Altos school board's announcement an illegal "public relations stunt" and promise to put up a ferocious fight.

They say that the district violated the state's open meeting law when trustees decided not to allow Bullis to be used as a public school for six years.

"It was a surprise announcement. ... Nobody believes it was done as a courtesy," said Craig Jones, a father of two who is spearheading the charter school campaign. "It was done in secret. It was done in private, with no room for public comment."

When asked if backers would take the district to court for violating the open meeting law, known as the Brown Act, Jones skirted over the question, saying charter supporters are too busy promoting their proposal.

But school officials said there was nothing "surprising" nor "illegal" about last week's announcement. They said that the matter was discussed at length during a public meeting in November and then again last month when trustees voted to close the Bullis campus.

The news was reiterated to give charter parents a chance to look at other school district locations, Roberts said.

Jones labeled the board action as "prejudice." The charter school group, he said, is determined to open a school at Bullis and is prepared to appeal the matter to the county and the state if it gets that far.

"We are not in the least bit discouraged," Jones said. "What is so threatening about having a public private school?"

But, according to other district parents, there will plenty to be concerned about if a Bullis charter school slides through.

"It takes money from the children. It takes resources from the (schools). This is not a win-win proposal," said parent Christa Amsden.

Owen Halliday concurred: "If we are to consider it so closely, how come it came together to quickly?"

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com