There is some debate in the community about whether Ross Valley Charter School (RVC) is “taking” space from District students by being at White Hill. The reality is that the law does not give District public school students any greater right to publicly-funded school facilities than charter public school students. In fact, the law requires that all such facilities be made equally available by Districts to charter schools so they may have a place to operate.
How much space should RVC receive? The math is simple.
RVC’s projected enrollment of 144 in-district students for 2018-19, which is 45% or roughly half of the average RVSD enrollment of 319 students per school (projected). Under Proposition 39, this means that RVC should receive nearly half the amount of space a typical K-5 RVSD elementary school provides to its students. All four elementary schools in the district have at least 22 classrooms each, so RVC should be provided 10 rooms at a minimum.
The actual calculations are more complex and are based on the intent of California law - Prop 39 requires school districts to make "reasonably equivalent" facilities available to charter schools upon request. They take in to account square footage per pupil, teaching stations per pupil and a number of other factors. The resulting allocation, following the Prop 39 regulations, is 10.6 classrooms to RVC for 144 in-district students next year.
Some history…
Prior to opening, RVC went to great lengths to avoid relying on Prop 39 to secure facilities. It conducted an extensive search for other facilities within Fairfax and San Anselmo (RVC’s approval by the state requires it to be located within these boundaries). Property in this community is hard to come by and there were no other feasible sites for RVC. Instead of requesting space under Prop 39 and opening for the 2016-17 school year, RVC chose not to file a Prop 39 request for 2016-17 and instead proposed to lease the District’s mostly-vacant school site at Red Hill. The attempts to lease Red Hill from the District ultimately failed and RVC was back to square one. The failed effort to rent the Red Hill site delayed RVC’s opening by a year, but this effort was made to reduce impact and conflict in the community.
With no other feasible options, RVC submitted a Prop 39 request one year later for space in 2017-18. In another effort to reduce impact, RVC offered to split its school between the Manor and Brookside school sites, as these two campuses have enough empty space to accommodate RVC students without displacing any District students.
The District ultimately decided to place RVC at White Hill for 2017-18. The District said its decision was based on projections that White Hill’s enrollment is declining over the next few years, and because White Hill’s designed capacity can accommodate all current White Hill students plus 200+ RVC students.
RVC parents wish things were different. We did not ask to be on the White Hill campus, and we certainly didn’t expect to be placed there. We wish we had our own campus that did not impact White Hill. We wish the District would allow us to renovate and rent the 10 empty classrooms at Red Hill.
We are grateful that California’s policy makers were steadfast in their belief that free public school choices benefit children and that public charter schools have an equal right to public school facilities. We are grateful to have a site, and grateful to the community for their support of public school children.
How much space should RVC receive? The math is simple.
RVC’s projected enrollment of 144 in-district students for 2018-19, which is 45% or roughly half of the average RVSD enrollment of 319 students per school (projected). Under Proposition 39, this means that RVC should receive nearly half the amount of space a typical K-5 RVSD elementary school provides to its students. All four elementary schools in the district have at least 22 classrooms each, so RVC should be provided 10 rooms at a minimum.
The actual calculations are more complex and are based on the intent of California law - Prop 39 requires school districts to make "reasonably equivalent" facilities available to charter schools upon request. They take in to account square footage per pupil, teaching stations per pupil and a number of other factors. The resulting allocation, following the Prop 39 regulations, is 10.6 classrooms to RVC for 144 in-district students next year.
Some history…
Prior to opening, RVC went to great lengths to avoid relying on Prop 39 to secure facilities. It conducted an extensive search for other facilities within Fairfax and San Anselmo (RVC’s approval by the state requires it to be located within these boundaries). Property in this community is hard to come by and there were no other feasible sites for RVC. Instead of requesting space under Prop 39 and opening for the 2016-17 school year, RVC chose not to file a Prop 39 request for 2016-17 and instead proposed to lease the District’s mostly-vacant school site at Red Hill. The attempts to lease Red Hill from the District ultimately failed and RVC was back to square one. The failed effort to rent the Red Hill site delayed RVC’s opening by a year, but this effort was made to reduce impact and conflict in the community.
With no other feasible options, RVC submitted a Prop 39 request one year later for space in 2017-18. In another effort to reduce impact, RVC offered to split its school between the Manor and Brookside school sites, as these two campuses have enough empty space to accommodate RVC students without displacing any District students.
The District ultimately decided to place RVC at White Hill for 2017-18. The District said its decision was based on projections that White Hill’s enrollment is declining over the next few years, and because White Hill’s designed capacity can accommodate all current White Hill students plus 200+ RVC students.
RVC parents wish things were different. We did not ask to be on the White Hill campus, and we certainly didn’t expect to be placed there. We wish we had our own campus that did not impact White Hill. We wish the District would allow us to renovate and rent the 10 empty classrooms at Red Hill.
We are grateful that California’s policy makers were steadfast in their belief that free public school choices benefit children and that public charter schools have an equal right to public school facilities. We are grateful to have a site, and grateful to the community for their support of public school children.