Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

No room for charter, superintendent says

by Nick Veronin

The plan to introduce a new charter high school is getting a tepid reaction from local high school district officials. William Smith is looking to start a charter school in Silicon Valley and said he hopes to meet soon with officials from the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District to discuss his plan.

"It partly depends on the friendliness of the reception we get," said Smith, an educator who has been considering the district as a site for his One World Preparatory School.

Smith has not yet presented his formal plan to the district but said he has spoken with Barry Groves, superintendent of the school district, who told Smith that Mountain View-Los Altos does not have the space to accommodate One World.

"There's no room for a charter school on my campuses," Groves told the Voice. "I don't have any room."

Smith said he understands Groves' concern and that he is looking into alternatives in the area outside of the district's grounds. Smith said he is considering postponing the opening of One World until 2012. Initially he had hoped to open the school in 2011.

"I definitely believe that there is a need for this school," Smith said.

One World would de-emphasize physical education and sports in favor of a robust foreign language program, according to Smith.

Posted by "Just Think About It", a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Oct 9, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Why all of the negativity from Barry Groves, superintendent of the school district? Wouldn't competition be a good thing? A new school would bring more green jobs into the community. If not here it will be in Sunnyvale or in another neighboring city. Are school district officials worried parents will think their children will get a better education the charter school and move them? Competition is a good thing......"Just Think About It"............

Posted by The jimmy, a resident of the St. Francis Acres neighborhood, on Oct 14, 2010 at 1:43 pm

With the incredible High Schools that are MVHS and LAHS, why would anybody want to divert Tax money for a charter school. That would decentralize administration and bloat costs. Don't believe me? Just look how Bullis Charter negatively impacted Los Altos School District. Lucky for Los Altos, the LAEF can get a thousand dollar contribution from each parent to keep the public schools top form. I doubt Mtn. View has the same socio-economics...

Posted by Choice is good, a resident of another community, on Oct 16, 2010 at 11:48 pm

Bullis Charter School does not take money away from the school district. Bullis Charter School does not share any of the funds from the parcel tax. Bullis Charter School is a public school. The students who attend Bullis are public school students who are funded at a lower rate than students at LASD schools. Bullis saves the tax payers money.