Charter school vote in Redwood City: Financial impact main point of concern for those opposed, supporters seek choice

“The biggest concern is that they’re whitewashing what the district already does,” said parent Michele Haussler. “It’s just opening up a school that is actually enriching their investors and ends up taking public funds away from local public schools. What they’re producing, if it was outstanding than I would be very open to them coming in, but so far from what I’m seeing, it’s not happening.”

Although the district doesn’t know the full financial impact, it does know that if per student funding is $10,000 in the 2019-20 school year, the loss of 925 students to KIPP will cost the district about $9.25 million per year, and the loss of 650 students to Rocketship will cost the district approximately $6.5 million per year. The law requires that district students have top priority for admission to a charter school approved by our district, but students from other districts are also permitted to enroll in charters we approve. It is possible that some charter average daily attendance (ADA) will be students from other districts, which would reduce the total loss of ADA from the district, according to the district website.

It’s a totally valid question to look into the financials of the situation, said Trustee Shelly Masur.

“We looked at it at our last board meeting,” she said. “We’ll talk about it again [Wednesday]. You do your best to project, but you really have to wait and see what happens.”

The district’s superintendent, Jan Christensen, noted that community members have a wide variety of opinions about charter schools and that the district does have concerns about the financials.

“We have heard local parents testify in favor of the charters and we have also heard from community members who have expressed concern about the financial impact of the charters,” Christensen said in a prepared statement. “We do have concerns about the financial impact, but under the law, we must accept and review charter school petitions according to certain legal criteria; current law does not allow for a school board to deny a charter due to a negative financial impact.”

Charter support

Meanwhile, charter supporters disagree with Haussler and those opposed, with Redwood City parents with children who attend charters in San Jose noting that the schools have improved their kids’ academic performance. Some parents started pushing for charter alternatives after coming to the conclusion that the district’s offerings were not sufficient.

“My daughter Sophie got really behind in school after the stress of losing her mom to leukemia,” said parent Dennis Aguilar. “The teachers and principal said it would take her three years to get back on track with her literacy. I’ve worked for two years to bring these schools to Redwood City. … The district has had plenty of time to fix what’s broken.”

Another parent, Martiza Leal, started the campaign to bring charters to Redwood City after looking for more school options for her children in Redwood City.

“I found the schools were not performing as well, especially for Latinos,” she said. “At North Star Academy, it’s very sad when kids are not allowed to get into the school because they’re not smart enough. I took my daughter to Rocketship in San Jose and tangentially saw the difference between my daughter being a district student and a charter school student. … They’re proven schools — that’s what we need here in Redwood City.”

San Mateo parent Ernesto Garcia pulled his son out of Rocketship in San Jose because the commute was too much.

“I have to have him back at Park [Elementary] School,” he said. “I saw his way of thinking was different a Rocketship. He was talking about going to college.”

Concerns

But others are not so keen on the charters and their potential effects on the district, including the Redwood City Teachers Association, which issued a statement in opposition to the two charters, noting the district has proven academically successful programs which enrich students but are currently unavailable to all students. Former district teacher of 35 years, Gloria Maldonado, who has concerns that former San Jose mayor Ron Gonzalez, and a board member for KIPP, brought the summer and after-school programs Elevate [Math]/Elevate [Math] Plus, formerly known as Stepping Up to Algebra, to the school district through the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, which received funding for the programs through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. School officials noted that no funding was provided to the district.

“I wish I could have more confidence in the board doing into the right thing,” she said. “My greatest concern is Ron Gonzalez is a politician and I know he’s brought a special program into the district. I’m concerned there is a quid pro quo there. I’m wondering if he has investments. Many of the parents who came to ask for more choices have already been fortunate to get their choice in a school. Those other children will have even less choice — the one choice they have is to hope they are accepted to the charter.”

Although Masur said Tuesday it would not be appropriate to comment before going into the meeting since the board is voting Wednesday, she refuted Maldonado’s concerns about Gonzalez.

“It’s a separate issue,” she said. “It’s completely unrelated to the charter school issue.”

Still, Maldonado noted the thing she knows has happened is that charters can drain the district of millions of dollars. She predicts 40 teachers will be cut from the district as a result of the new schools.

“Charters come in and promise a lot,” she said. “They drain the district of money and the results are not what they say they’re going to be. People have a right to choose. My concern is there’s always someone who is going to be a gatekeeper keeping kids out. You’re in a sense resegregrating. I don’t think they will take special needs students; research shows they eliminate those students from their schools.”

Space needs

In addition to the loss of per student funding, the district is required by law to provide physical space for the schools if they request space in accordance with a specific legal process. The district may impose certain charges for use of the physical space provided. While these amounts are less than fair market rent, they do offset some of the costs to the district. Exact costs would have to be determined. Rocketship’s petition states that it does not intend to request space from the district; nonetheless, if requested, the district would have to provide it. KIPP plans to request space from the district.

If the district approves the charters, it has until November to submit a request for a district facility for the following school year. The district would then conduct an analysis of space options, and work with the charter to identify an appropriate space. Although the district is not required to provide a specific facility requested by a charter school, it must provide space that is sufficient to house the resident district students who attend the charter in space that is “reasonably equivalent” to the type of space they would have in a regular district program.

The votes take place 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25 in the auditorium at McKinley Institute of Technology, 400 Duane St. in Redwood City.

angela@smdailyjournal.com

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