ORANGE : Principal Navigates Toward Charter School’s 1st Term

Santiago Middle School Principal Mary Ann Owsley must resolve a host of weighty issues before she opens the county’s first charter school next fall, but she is finding that the simplest issues can be the most controversial.

Students took three ballots before they agreed on colors for the mandatory school uniform, and Owsley said she anticipates a few struggles before everyone agrees to wear the white, gray or teal shirt with navy pants, skirts or shorts.

With that detail decided, school officials are putting final touches on the one-page contract that students will have to sign before they can attend Santiago.

The school became the state’s 66th charter school in July under a concept that frees it from state and local control and gives administrators power over their own budget.

Owsley said she will meet with each of the school’s 870 students and their parents between March and June to discuss the contracts.

“The agreement is really innocuous in that it just outlines the concepts of the charter,” Owsley said.

Teachers will sign the contract as well and commit themselves to giving students a quality education in a safe environment. Parents must agree to involve themselves in their children’s education and volunteer at least 12 hours a year to the school.

Details are being hammered out in monthly Parent Advisory Committee discussions. The next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 30, in the school’s library, at 515 N. Rancho Santiago Blvd.

“I want people to come in here with their eyes wide open,” Owsley said. “We have to make sure our intentions are very, very clear.”