Spa County Appeal Response Letter

Page 1

!!!!!!!!!!Contra'Costa'School'of'Performing'Arts! ! ! ! July!12,!2015! ! Via:!Email!

Board!of!Education! Karen!Sakata,!Superintendent! Contra!Costa!County!Office!of!Education! 77!Santa!Barbara!Road! Pleasant!Hill,!CA!94523! ! Re:!Response!to!County!Staff!Report!Regarding!Contra!Costa!School!of! Performing!Arts!Charter!Petition! ! Dear!Board!President!Mirabella,!Board!Trustees,!and!Superintendent!Sakata:! ! On!behalf!of!the!Contra!Costa!School!of!Performing!Arts!(“SPA”),!thank!you!for!your!time!in! considering!the!SPA!charter!petition.!We!are!extremely!proud!of!the!work!we!have!done! and!excited!to!realize!the!potential!for!such!a!powerful!program.! ! Our!team!was!deeply!disappointed!by!the!County!staff!report!published!on!July!10th.!! Within!the!Findings!of!Fact!the!staff!presents!many!flawed!arguments.!The!charter!petition! is!repeatedly!misinterpreted!and!misrepresented,!with!impactful!program!content! completely!disregarded.!In!addition,!despite!this!petition!being!an!inarguably!stronger! version!of!the!previously!submitted!countywide!charter,!several!completely!new!issues! have!been!raised!by!staff!(these!areas!of!the!charter!were!not!questioned!before).!It!is! difficult!to!maintain!the!belief!that!this!analysis!was!impartial!and!objective.! ! Perhaps!even!more!concerning,!the!staff!findings!completely!ignore!existing!statute!and! instead!of!abiding!by!the!guidelines!established!in!Education!Code!and!the!California!Code! of!Regulations,!the!staff!has!created!their!own!metrics!for!evaluation,!presumably!in!order! to!support!a!foregone!conclusion.! Overview!of!Law! ! The!Education!Code!provides!specific!guidance!to!governing!boards!to!approve!the! establishment!of!charter!schools.!Education!Code!Section!47605(b)!states:! ! In#reviewing#petitions#for#the#establishment#of#charter#schools#…#the#chartering# authority#shall#be#guided#by#the#intent#of#the#Legislature#that#charter#schools# are#and#should#become#an#integral#part#of#the#California#educational#system# and#that#establishment#of#charter#schools#should#be#encouraged.#(Emphasis# added.)# !


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.