ORANGE : District OKs Plans for Charter School

The Orange Unified School District board has approved Santiago Middle School’s application to become the county’s first charter school.

In a 6-0 vote Thursday, with one trustee absent, the board endorsed the plan, which will release the school from district control and exempt it from virtually all provisions of the state education code, beginning in September, 1995. The move is an attempt to allow parents, teachers and staff to create a new school outside the restrictions imposed by state and local control.

There are 62 other charter schools in California, all created after new legislation was passed two years ago.

Nevertheless, Santiago Principal Mary Ann Owsley emphasized that the school will remain in close touch with district officials.

“We do not see ourselves as operating in a vacuum,” Owsley said. “I want to personally guarantee that communication will be first-class.”

David Reger, president of the Orange Unified Education Assn., and Becky Mayers, president of the local chapter of the California School Employees Assn., said their labor unions backed the plan. But Mayers said her union wants more discussion on the charter’s effects.

“It is not our position to oppose or support it,” Reger said when the board asked him to comment. The union’s job is to explain the issues to the teachers and to work on their behalf with the school, he added.

Because the charter mandates parental involvement in the school, Owsley said the school will draft a list of ways for parents to earn “points” by volunteering for various tasks. The list contains some 40 choices.

A greater role for parents was one of the main reasons Santiago sought the charter, along with greater flexibility to deal with budgets, teaching methods and class size, Owsley said.

Parents and the 877 students at the school will be required to sign attendance contracts before the 1995-96 school year. Owsley said she and her staff have heard “zero concern” from parents to date but acknowledged that not every parent is aware of the plan.

“Only a handful have participated up to the birth of the charter,” parent Terri Sargeant said.