In a unanimous 5-0 vote by the Hollister School District Board of Trustees, Navigator Schools got its second charter renewal approved in less than a week as Hollister Prep’s new five-year contract was granted March 27.
The move followed Navigator’s Gilroy Prep—via Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees—receiving the same extension term five days earlier.
“We are thrilled to have received both renewals as the support of our authorizing districts is incredibly important to us as an organization,” said Kirsten Carr, Navigator’s director of community outreach.
“As well, we hope the positive relationship we have with both GUSD and HSD can show Pajaro Valley Unified School District, where we are hoping to open Watsonville Prep School, our commitment to being a benefit to the communities where we are located.”
In both cases, authorizing district staff in Hollister and Gilroy recommended approval of the charter renewals.
“Since the charter school (Hollister Prep) anticipates 480 students, the majority of which would be drawn from Hollister School District student population, the district has and would continue to realize significant financial implications with the continued operation of the charter school,” according to the HSD staff report.
Navigator students have shared the campus at RO Hardin, a Hollister elementary school located on Line Street in southwest Hollister, since that school’s inception nearly five years ago. Hollister Prep has 420 students for the 2017-18 school year and is currently a kindergarten-through-sixth grade school, which will grow over the next two years to serve seventh and eighth graders.
Also at the March 27 meeting, the school board unanimously approved a 2018-19 facilities use agreement between the district and Navigator Schools. The agreement increased the number of classrooms used by Hollister Prep from 15 to 17 for next school year. Additionally, the contract gives “exclusive access to three rooms for office and other administrative use, exclusive use of the garage for storage and shared use of a storage container, multi-purpose room, restrooms, library, outside eating area, play fields and parking lot at the RO Hardin Elementary Schools ite.”
The Hollister district receives a 3 percent administrative oversight fee of Hollister Prep’s projected revenue and additional fees for routine maintenance and child nutrition labor costs, according to the staff report.
