There was good news earlier this month from the Los Altos School District about the possible signing of a five-year agreement with Bullis Charter School. Could it be that the sometimes embarrassing squabbling between these two parties may be coming to an end?
The proposed agreement, drafted by board members of both the district and the charter school, includes the promise of a 9,500-square-foot space for the charter school at Blach Intermediate School in Los Altos. That would mean that the district must end its lease with the Stepping Stones Preschool now located there, and the space will be available to Bullis beginning in the 2015-16 school year.
Perhaps the most important provision of the agreement pertains to litigation. The accord would put an end to existing litigation, and would require the use of mediation and, if that fails, arbitration for any disputes arising during the five-year term of the agreement. Over the years, money that could otherwise have been spent on educating kids has been used instead for legal battles over facilities, so a compromise on dispute resolution is a profoundly positive development.
Another provision worth noting is likely to placate many who have criticized Bullis for its enrollment policy, which, they say, gives some of the district’s wealthiest families more access to the public charter school than it offers the less affluent. As with many charter schools, enrollment preference is given to returning students, and then to siblings of current students. But once those spots are filled, all children in the district may apply, and if there are more applicants than there are openings, a lottery takes place. Under Bullis’ existing rules, 50 percent of those remaining spots are reserved for students primarily from wealthy Los Altos Hills neighborhoods, leaving fewer spots for children from less privileged families.
Under the proposed agreement, the 50 percent preference will be phased out, beginning in the 2015-16 school year. By the 2019-20 school year, it will be eliminated completely — a welcome change that will create a far more equitable approach to enrollment in the high-achievement charter school.
When charter schools were first authorized in California, a major goal of their supporters was to create test-lab environments to improve public school education. Unfortunately, all too often the efforts by parents and innovative educators trying to establish charter schools have been met with resistance from school district boards and administrators, and resulting conflicts have prevented productive collaboration between a school district and its “test lab,” from which ideas for improvement might otherwise ferment.
That kind of collaboration may be possible with the end of the conflict between Bullis and the school district. Fortunately, adults were in the room when board members from both parties hammered out the proposed agreement, which will be voted on during a special meeting on Monday, July 28. We hope the ink is at the ready and the proposed agreement becomes a reality that night.
