Satellite charter schools under fire
California’s booming satellite charter school industry that has persevered through lawsuits, scandals and turf wars suffered a blow this past week when a state appellate court ruled hundreds of the campuses are illegally operating outside their districts.
At issue now is how 150,000 California students — including 25,000 in San Diego County — will continue their education. The court decision also puts at stake millions of dollars in revenue generated by the charters for privately run organizations.
The 3rd District Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision in a lawsuit filed by the Anderson Union High School District near Redding claiming the Shasta Secondary Home School (now Shasta Charter Academy) illegally opened satellite charter campus, which are officially called resource centers, in its jurisdiction.
Filed Monday and set to go into effect Nov. 16, the appellate decision reverses the lower court ruling, which sided with the charter that was authorized by the nearby Shasta Union High School District. The lower court said it was legal to operate a resource center, as such schools are officially called, in the neighboring Anderson district to give its independent-study students who live there a chance to use computers, receive tutoring and work on assignments in a classroom setting.
Under the State Education Code, independent-study charters are allowed to operate satellite campuses in their home district and in neighboring counties. However, there is nothing in the law about whether a charter can operate satellite centers outside their home district and within their county.
The appellate court ruled by applying “well-established rules of statutory construction to the language of the Charter Schools Act.”
Benjamin Claasen, director of the charter that the appellate court ruled against, declined to comment on whether the decision would be taken to the California Supreme Court for consideration.
Shy of the state’s highest court reviewing the case for a potential reversal, there are limited options for the charters.
Ricardo Soto, general counsel for the California Charter Schools Association, held a conference call to discuss the ruling on Tuesday, with representatives from about 60 of the state’s nearly 300 non-classroom-based charters participating.
“If nothing changes and this decision remains in effect, they should be thinking about what steps they might take to address these resource centers,” Soto said in an interview.
Among the options: petitioning the resident school district, county board of education, or the State Board of Education to approve a charter that essentially converts a resource center into a full-fledged charter school. The authorizing agency would gain oversight of the charter and collect up to 3 percent of the charter’s revenue for that service.
Getting a county or state charter would be challenging, if not unlikely, in most cases, Soto said since the petition implies there is no other recourse for approval.
Andra Donovan, general counsel for the San Diego Unified School District, offers another Satellite charter schools under fire - The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Big Education Ape: STATE APPELLATE COURT LIMITS CHARTER SCHOOL CAMPUSES - The San Diego Union Tribune - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/state-appellate-court-limits-charter.html
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