Schools

Would-be WCCUSD Charter School Responds to District Criticism

District staff have recommended the board deny Caliber Schools' charter petition; the petitioners say the district got many basic facts wrong.

A group hoping to open a new charter school in West Contra Costa has hit a roadblock, and they say it's because the officials reviewing their petition missed some basic facts.

The West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education will vote tonight, Wednesday, on the petition for Caliber Schools, which hopes to open a K-8 school in Richmond by 2014 that draws from that city, El Cerrito, San Pablo and elsewhere.

In a report for tonight's meeting, district staff trash Caliber Schools' charter petition as incomplete and overly optimistic about financial prospects, and recommend the board deny the petition.

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"I think the biggest thing that was missed was a lack of staff interest in meeting with us as petitioners in the process," Caliber Schools CEO Allison Akhnoukh said. "We just never had an opportunity to engage."

Akhnoukh writes in a letter to the district that 48 of the 49 issues district staff have with the petition are "factually inaccurate, based on conjecture, or go beyond the requirements of the state education code."

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For example, Akhnoukh's letter says, projected monthly loan balances for the charter school were added together. And the district is critical of Caliber Schools for not naming a physical location where it would be located, but Akhnoukh's letter points out the school hasn't been approved yet, so it can't lease property.

Akhnoukh said the team behind Caliber Schools hopes to open a school that prepares all its students for college, offers a personalized program, teaches computer programming to every student and is welcoming to parents. She said students will be able to receive some targeted online instruction while others meet in small groups with their teacher.

When Caliber Schools submitted its charter petition, it was signed by 350 families, even though its first-year enrollment target is 270.

"It says to us that parents are hungry for different educational options," Akhnoukh said. "They're excited about a program that aspires to send all their students to competitive four-year colleges."

She said there is "strong evidence for why we should be able to open this school," and vowed to appeal to the Contra Costa County Board of Education and even the California State Board of Education if the district votes it down.

West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education meeting
6:30 p.m. Wednesday
DeJean Middle School, 3400 Macdonald Ave., Richmond


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