MISSION VIEJO : Plan for Charter School Is Shelved

Saddleback Valley Unified School District Trustee Frank Ury failed to win support at the board meeting Tuesday for his idea that the new Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate School should become a charter school when it opens in the fall.

Under state legislation that became effective in January, teachers, parents and community members may petition the school board for a charter for their school, which would essentially allow the school to receive public funding but operate free of most state and local controls.

At the meeting Tuesday, Ury proposed forming a group of teachers and parents at the new school to develop a charter for it.

While expressing support for the concept of charter schools, Trustees Marcia Birch, Bobbee Cline and Dore Gilbert said any move to establish such a school should come through a grass-roots effort.

“I don’t believe we should have board members issuing charters,” Gilbert said. “I think it should be coming from the community.”

Board members also said it’s too early to discuss such a proposal because all the teachers and staff have yet to be hired. To move forward with a charter plan, 50% of the teachers at a school, or 10% of a district’s total teaching staff, would have to approve the charter.

If at some future date there’s a “groundswell of support within the community and with the teachers at that school,” then the board could re-examine the issue, Gilbert said.

Some teachers and parents in the audience also questioned Ury’s political motives for attempting to lead what they described as a “secessionist movement.” Ury is a supporter of the state voucher initiative, which would give public funds to parents who send their children to private schools.

Ury, who was disappointed at the rejection, said he views charter schools as a way to “remove bureaucratic shackles” and empower teachers and parents to design their educational program.

“I’m just trying to present some options to the community,” he said. “In my view, the parents are always the people in the best position to make decisions for their kids. All I’m trying to do is further that.”

Board member Debbie Hughes supported Ury’s proposal.

For now, Ury said he will put the idea aside but see if it sparks any ideas in the community.

“It was absolutely not my intent to stir up any type of huge controversy,” he said.

The charter school legislation, written by Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara), allows the school to operate like an autonomous, single-school district, free from most local district and state regulations.

Up to 100 such schools would be authorized throughout the state. There are no charter schools in Orange County.