The upcoming Morgan Hill Unified School District’s Board of Education meeting will be held Sept. 10 inside the auditorium at Britton Middle School, located at 80 West Central Avenue.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m.
The first public session item to be discussed is a public hearing for Navigator Charter Schools’ petition to open Morgan Hill Prep Charter School within the boundaries of MHUSD in the fall of 2014.
Navigator Schools, which opened its first facility in 2011 in Gilroy and another this year in Hollister, resubmitted its petition Aug. 9 after MHUSD shot the original down due to what it identified as non-compliance issues with No Child Left Behind Legislation, handling special needs students, and the inclusion of mandatory parent volunteer hours. Navigator Schools co-founder James Dent said they have addressed those issues in their new petition.
Navigator’s petition proposes to open an elementary school, beginning with kindergarten through second grade, and adding a grade level each year up until eighth grade. Navigator plans to serve 180 students in its first year in Morgan Hill and grow to 540 students.
The Board will listen to comments from residents and then discuss the charter petition. The Board will have 30 days from the hearing to vote on the petition unless there is a mutual agreement to extend it 30 more days.
In June, MHUSD asked Navigator to re-submit its petition, which district officials contended had “multiple errors and omissions” such as failure to comply with the No Child Left Behind legislation; inclusion of a family contract that stipulates mandatory volunteer time for parents; and having the wrong year for the opening of the school.
If MHUSD denies Navigator Schools’ new petition, the charter has 180 days to appeal to the county, which has 60 days to make its decision.
Other topics on the Sept. 10 agenda include the 2013 Summer School Report; Annual Student Expulsion and Suspension Report for 2012-13 school year; and an enrollment update.
