Capo charter school may squeeze out elementary school | school, oxford, barcelona - News - The Orange County Register

Capo charter school may squeeze out elementary school | school, oxford, barcelona - News - The Orange County Register:

Capo charter school may squeeze out elementary school

Mission Viejo’s Oxford K-8 Preparatory Academy wants more classroom space on the campus it shares with Barcelona Hills Elementary.

By SCOTT MARTINDALE / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – A new K-8 charter school that shares its campus with an elementary school is petitioning the Capistrano Unified School District to increase enrollment by 144 kids next fall, a move that would force the elementary school to reduce its already dwindling enrollment and possibly put it on a path toward closure.

Oxford Preparatory Academy, which opened this fall on the Barcelona Hills Elementary School campus in Mission Viejo, is seeking to increase its enrollment by 23 percent, to 772 next year. The proposal, presented to trustees on Monday, sparked outrage from Barcelona parents, who say they've already been unfairly squeezed by Oxford.

Barcelona Hills Elementary School students line the streets near campus in April with signs that read "We love our school" and "Please keep our school the way it is" to protest being forced to share their campus with Oxford Preparatory Academy.

COURTESY PHOTO

"The additional numbers they're asking for will completely dismantle Barcelona Hills," Barcelona parent Magda McLain of Mission Viejo told the Capistrano Unified school board. "I ask all of you before me, why should our children have to sacrifice their school in order to give the charter what they want?"

Capistrano trustees, who did not comment on Oxford's proposal, are scheduled to make a decision Jan. 23.

Oxford's executive director, Sue Roche, told