Glendale Unified board denies charter school plans; petitioners say they will appeal to county
The Charter School Approval Flea Flicker
The Glendale Unified School Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to deny a petition submitted by parents who sought to establish a charter school in Glendale.
District officials concluded the plan for the school would fail in its execution to “present a sound educational program,” primarily because of financial issues.
The lead petitioners, however, plan to appeal the board’s decision, said Hilary Stern, a co-lead petitioner who spent two years creating a 250-page plan for the school, named the International Studies Language Academy.
The charter school, which Glendale Unified officials began to formally consider in October, was expected to offer dual-language immersion programs in Spanish, German, Italian and French for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
“We had hoped to work with GUSD as our authorizer, but now have no choice but to appeal to the county” Stern said in an email.
If granted approval through the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Stern added, she is still hopeful to establish the school in Glendale.
The school’s supporters favored the charter’s potential to meet the demand for dual-language programs, which are popular in Glendale Unified because there are seven different foreign language classes, and students spend the majority of the school day learning in their chosen foreign language.
However, Glendale school officials found fault with the charter’s proposed staffing, educational and financial plans.
“While the petitioners’ efforts [are] admirable, and we believe that their intentions are to serve students, we found a number of significant weaknesses and deficiencies in the proposed plan,” said Glendale Unified co-interim Supt. Joel Shawn.
In their 18-page staff report recommending denial of the charter school, a team of 10 Glendale Unified administrators concluded that the charter school would not likely fulfill Glendale Unified board denies charter school plans; petitioners say they will appeal to county - Glendale News-Press:
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