From: janet swann <janeteswann@...>
Date: February 9, 2012 10:11:33 PM PST
To: amyradovan@...
Subject: charter school takeover

Hi Amy,

This is something parents need to know about.  My youngest will graduate in a couple years but elementary families will be directly affected by this.

 

There is currently a group planning to bring a charter school petition to our school board in the next month or so.  Our School district will be forced to divert at least $1 Million to this charter each year and provide space for the school to start and then to grow each year.  In the past a district only had to provide space to a charter school if there was space available. But charter law has changed recently and the biggest threat a new charter poses to SCCS is the loss of a school site.  The latest news is about a charter in Southern California that demanded space from their school district and forced the closure of a thriving, award-winning neighborhood school.  (see http://www.ocregister.com/news/school-338917-charter-schools.html ).

 

There is an active group of parents at DeLaveaga who are working to stop the charter.  They wrote the note below.  Can you get this out to BV parents?  I have to say I went to an informational meeting hosted by the charter group  and Bay View was mentioned as a potential site for this charter since it has a diverse campus which they want to inherit. 

 

If anyone has any questions please ask them to contact me.

 

Thanks,

Janet

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kirsten Gruesz <ksgruesz@...>
Date: Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 8:15 PM
Subject: Google Group on Montessori charter elementary school
To: caitlinpmk@...


Dear supporters of public education in Santa Cruz,

Here is a link to the SignOn.org petition to the school board asking them to reject the new charter school petition. Please sign (if you agree) and note that you are a parent or teacher, indicating which school. Families should sign together just once. Our aim is to gather signatures from families in all the district elementary schools to match against the signatures from prospective families wanting to join the new charter, which their petition will have to present.

Save Santa Cruz Schools - No New Charter petition

If you wish to become more involved, we have set up a Google Group to exchange ideas, discuss strategy, and share documents and information about this proposal, the district budget, and charter schools in general. For those who are not sure where they stand on this issue, you can go here to see the presentation from the charter organizers that might help sway you. Although the district has not yet formally received the charter petition, they are expecting it in March, and there will be very little turnaround time before the public hearing. You may request an invitation to this closed group by following this link:

http://groups.google.com/group/save-santa-cruz-schools

Please forward this email widely to anyone you think may be interested and sympathetic.

With thanks,
Kirsten