Schools

Community Discusses Proposed Charter School

Dozens of community members attended a town hall meeting Wednesday evening regarding a proposed charter high school.

Does Dublin have room for a charter high school?

That was the question on the minds of dozens of community members who came to a town hall meeting Wednesday evening.

Nearly three dozen parents, school board members and staff attended the meeting.

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The Tassajara Preparatory High School would open in fall 2012. Those opposed to the school are aiming to collect at least 1,000 signatures from community members.

"This issue doesn't just affect our students, it affects our whole community," said school board President Dan Cunningham.

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The Tri-Valley Learning Corporation, which runs the Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory High School that opened this school year, is behind the proposal. Officials did not return a call or email regarding the topic.

Parents at the meeting said the charter school would take resources from the district's public schools.

Parent Paula Penninella has two children in the district, one of whom is in special day classes.

"His classroom could lose the technology they have in there now," she said.

According to a handout the district staff provided, one impact could be a reduction of about $6,000 per student in annual funding for every student who opts to attend the charter school. 

The proposal for the charter school was denied by the Dublin Unified School District last March.

It also was denied by the Alameda County Office of Education, but is being appealed to the state Department of Education.

Dublin High is the only high school in the district. One parent voiced concern about residents who live in east Dublin having to drive nearly 15 minutes to get to the campus and said he hoped that a charter school would be closer.

Opponents pointed out that there is no word on where the campus would be and that existing school locations could house the charter school. 

Others in the audience were very vocal in saying that they believe the charter school proposal isn't a distance issue. Cynthia Mitchell has two children in the district and said she believes the charter school would be run by a corporation. 

"This is not about our children's education, this is about them expanding their empire," she said.

Dublin High Principal Carol Shimizu said students there do not understand why anyone would not want to go to their school.

The state Advisory Commission on Charter Schools will determine its recommendation for the charter school at an April 6 meeting. Regardless of its recommendation, the state Board of Education will vote on the topic in May.


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