Representatives of a charter school in Gilroy filed a petition at the Aug. 28 Hollister School District trustee’s meeting to open a similar program in Hollister for the 2013-14 school year and now they are awaiting the verdict.
James Dent, the principal of Gilroy Prep School, said the school district will have a month to hold a public hearing and then a month for the trustees to vote on the petition.
“I would guess the vote would happen in October of this year,” Dent said. “When we worked in Gilroy, we worked directly with the board. We had some study sessions and worked together. They told us what their concerns were and what they wanted fixed in the petition.”
Dent said he has not heard from any of the trustees since representatives from the school filed their petition last week, but he had heard from Superintendent Gary McIntire who requested some additional information about the petition. The school board trustees did approve a contract with a consultant to review the financial information included in the petition at the same meeting in which the petition was presented.
School Board Trustee Jennifer Bagley said she had not had a chance to look at the petition in depth yet.
“My belief is that charter schools are very hit and miss – it’s not a proven product,” she said. “It appears as if the Gilroy charter school has done well and they certainly believe in their vision. When it comes down to it, if their petition meets all the requirements (of the state) we will have to accept the charter.”
State law allows charter schools to open up with or without district support. Dent said if the school district vetoes the petition, the next step would be to appeal the decision to the County Office of Education’s board and finally to the state education board.
Bagley said her main concern with a charter school opening in town is that it might cause a financial hit to the district.
“It could take money from the school district,” she said. “In this economic environment that could be a challenge to us.”
Dent said the goal of the founders and teachers at the charter school is to open up more campuses in areas where students have not been performing to their potential.
“That typically means poorer neighborhoods or English language learners,” he said.
Dent, who has served as a principal in various districts for six years and prior to that as an assistant principal, said he had visited some schools that “had a real dramatic turnaround.”
He and the other charter cofounders wanted to “recreate the magic we saw in other schools.”
As part of the petition, the charter group had to show that they had enough family interest to fill the classes at a potential charter school. Dent said they submitted 90 signatures with their application, though they have more than 100 families who have expressed interest through their website. The group has been doing outreach in the community to get the word out about the school.
If approved the school would start out with kindergarten through second-grade classes, expanding to K-8 by adding one additional grade each year. Dent said Hollister Prep School is the second school the founders are trying to open. Their goal is to open one school a year over the next four to five years. Other possible locations for future schools include Salinas, Watsonville, Marina or North Monterey County.
He said the school founders know the area well and care about quality education.
“We are all super excited to hear back from them,” Dent said. “We are looking forward to hearing from the board. The founders are all Central Coast workers. Some live in Hollister. Some worked in Hollister.”
