Charter School of Morgan Hill officials want the School District
to follow state law and provide the school with facilities. The
school is outgrowing its current facilities, located in the Morgan
Hill Plaza shopping center, according to officials.
Charter School of Morgan Hill officials want the School District to follow state law and provide the school with facilities.
The school is outgrowing its current facilities, located in the Morgan Hill Plaza shopping center, according to officials.
The demand is another challenge for the district which is already facing budget woes, a probable $3.2 million budget shortfall due to state education budget cuts and declining enrollment which further cuts into state funding.
Enrollment in CSMH grew from 164 to 200 during the 2001-2002 school year and has grown from 278 to 290 during this school year. Projections for next year are beginning with 384 students and reaching full capacity of 440 by the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year.
School District Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Branco said the district needs to begin working on a solution.
“It is critical to begin discussions with each other, with a full staff team, including at least one board member, staff and community members,” Branco said during the Jan. 13 School Board meeting when the issue was discussed.
Board President Tom Kinoshita agreed that the district needs a committee to consider the request.
“We need an expanded team,” he said. “Perhaps George (Trustee Panos) and Shellé (Trustee Thomas), since they are liaisons to the charter school, could be a part of the discussions.
The district must respond to the request by April 1.
Proposition 39, passed by voters in November 2000, requires that charter school facilities would need to be provided by the district granting the charter.
The proposition tied the charter facilities to district benefit from a state bond issue for funds for facilities: if a district chose to take advantage of the 55 percent voter approval for a general obligation bond, they needed to provide charter facilities by November 2002; all other districts were required to implement this provision by November 2003 if there is a request for a charter school within its boundaries.
The proposition also specified regulations for new charter schools vs. existing charter schools. Because this school year, ending June 15, 2003, is the Charter School of Morgan Hill’s (CSMH) second year of operation, it qualifies as an existing school. Therefore, the deadline for CSMH to submit a written facilities request was Oct. 1, 2002; the request was submitted on Sept. 30, 2002.
Branco met with CSMH Executive Director Mary Smathers and Board Members Noreen Bergin and Greg Sellers in December to begin considering the request.\
The possibility of moving the charter students into Encinal Elementary, located at 9530 Monterey Road, which the district is considering closing, has been discussed, Branco said, but charter school officials were not interested in the site because its location eight miles north of Morgan Hill would require transportation for students.
Smathers said the option should be left open.
Another option under consideration is locating at least the upper grade CSMH students in four portable classrooms at the back corner of the Britton campus.
Smathers said CSMH is interested in locating downtown, in a central location that would meet the needs of all of its students and allow it to continue recruiting more low income students. A downtown location, Smathers said, would also facilitate forming connections between the school and local business, which is part of the school’s mission.
