Clock is ticking for launch of New Bonnheim charter in Sacramento
Published: Friday, Jun. 20, 2014 - 10:44 pm
The clock is ticking for organizers of the New Joseph Bonnheim Community Charter School,who must scramble over the next two months to get Sacramento City Unified’s newest campus up and running in time for fall enrollment.
School trustees voted 4-3 late Thursday to approve the charter, despite warnings in a staff report that the endeavor as drafted would not likely succeed. Supporters were board members Gustavo Arroyo, Jay Hansen, Christina Pritchett and Diana Rodriguez.
Voting against the plan were President Patrick Kennedy and trustees Darrel Woo and Jeff Cuneo. Woo raised concern that there was too little time remaining before the start of school.
“It’s not incorporated in the budget,” Woo said. He drew no interest when he proposed that the charter school opening be delayed a year.
The vote to start in the fall means that the parents who led the petition, aided by charter school advocates and district staff, must enroll more than 300 expected K-6 students, work with the Sacramento City Teachers Association to establish rules for teacher selection and prepare the campus – all during the summer months.
“We’ve already started,” said Dennis Mah, founder of the Yav Pem Suab Academy charter school on South Land Park Drive and a volunteer supporter for the Bonnheim effort.
“We’ve appointed an interim principal, Frank O’Connor,” Mah said. He said O’Connor, a retired educator, is bilingual and had his first assignment as principal in the 1970s at Joseph Bonnheim Elementary. The school, which the district closed along with six other campuses due to fallingClock is ticking for launch of New Bonnheim charter in Sacramento - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee: