Point Reyes Light - December 13, 2001
Lagunitas trustee wants expanded charter plan
By Daniel Freed
As research continues on a plan to convert Lagunitas School District’s Open Classroom program to a state charter school, a district trustee last week publicly proposed the development of an alternative charter school that would include all three of the district’s existing educational programs.
Trustee Richard Sloan explained to his fellow board members that the district’s Montessori, Open Classroom, and middle school programs – and possibly a fourth as-yet-undetermined program option – would be included in the charter school. Under the plan the district would also run a traditional school similar to the Academics and Enrichment Program which trustees closed earlier this year.
Sloan told The Light on Monday that he envisioned the proposed charter school as an "umbrella school" in which "parent program groups govern the different programs’ hiring, evaluation, layoffs, curriculum, and the setting of financial priorities." Sloan said that involving parents in the decision-making process has been a primary goal of the district since his election to the board in 1972.
Would it work?
Sloan explained that he believed the plan could be put into action by the next school year, but noted that whether it is financially feasible is an "open question."
However, in previous discussions many parents and administrators in the district have questioned the Montessori and middle-school parent groups’ ability to make such a proposal happen. Open Classroom parents have already taken steps toward becoming a charter school, but have not ruled out the possibility of entering into Sloan’s "umbrella charter."
"I think it’s an interesting proposal and it would work," said trustee and Open Classroom parent Kelly O’Connor. "But what counts is having support from parent groups."
Trustee and Open Classroom parent Thelma Weiss at last Thursday’s meeting warned that the district’s upper campus – which houses the Open Classroom – could close if the district’s ongoing problem of declining enrollment is not addressed.
Financial troubles
However, Weiss – along with trustees Sloan and O’Connor, district Supt. Mary Buttler, and district financial officer Jeff Lippstrew – said this week that such a move would probably never occur. Weiss told The Light that she mentioned the possible campus closure as a warning to parents who do not comprehend the dire financial implications of declining enrollment.
Sloan’s proposal came as part of a focused discussion by trustees of efforts by certain administrators, teachers, and parents to convert the Open Classroom program to a charter school. The plan was initiated in large part by parents who want to keep key staff members in the program from being laid off in looming staff cuts.
Student enrollment in the district has decreased from 362 last year to 307 this year, making staff cuts inevitable in March. Because state law mandates that teachers with the least seniority are laid off first, more senior teachers from the now defunct A&E program could replace newer teachers trained specifically for the programs they work in.
Bypassing regulations
Former trustee Reed Stockton told The Light that last year Open Classroom advocates recognized the potential loss and hatched the charter school idea to ensure their administrators could make their own staffing decisions. If Open Classroom became a charter, its administrators could by-pass the state’s seniority regulations, but the competing programs would likely lose newer teachers to make way for those with seniority.
Sloan said that his plan would allow the leaders of all three chartered programs to make individual staffing decisions based on each program’s needs and enrollment. At the same time, the traditional school could provide more senior A&E trained teachers with familiar teaching assignments, he added.
Several Valley parents have shown an interest in the renaissance of a program like A&E with a traditional curriculum. Liz Marks of Forest Knolls, a parent of a pre-school aged child, told trustees last week that she – along with many other pre-school parents she’s contacted in the district – would like to see an A&E-style program reinstated in the district.
Benefits of charter plans
Stockton said that he believes the charter proposals being discussed could possibly help the district improve its finances by increasing enrollment. By state law, anyone in California could attend a charter school in the district without having to deal with inter-district transfers.
"If you’re a charter school, you have a recruitment area that’s larger," Stockton said. "It potentially makes recruiting easier."
Trustee O’Connor noted that Sloan’s proposal is currently just an outline. Just as with the more-advanced Open Classroom plan, it would require proponents to draft a charter petition detailing every aspect of the school’s operations – including educational philosophy, pupil assessment, teacher salaries, and employment practices.
Former board president Steve Charrier gave trustees at last week’s meeting his own assessment of the amount of work necessary to complete a charter conversion. "The devil’s in the details, and you have some huge details to work out."