District May Try a Charter to Escape Regulatory Maze

All those rules. The state Education Code dictates everything from how often football uniforms should be sterilized (at least once a year) to whether schools may use armored vehicles to transport money to banks (yes, they may).

Those reams of clunky state regulations--spelled out in the 11-volume, 8,731-page Education Code--stick in the craw of Capistrano Supt. James A. Fleming. So he has been quietly floating a plan for his school system to secede from the state bureaucracy by becoming California’s first charter district. By slashing prescriptive rules, Fleming hopes to see improved student performance and more innovative schooling.

At a board meeting next month, Capistrano school trustees may decide to study the concept of converting each of their 41 campuses to charter schools, thus freeing them from many onerous rules. That possibility just became available for large school districts Jan. 1 under a revision of the state’s charter school law.

However, the superintendent wants to take it yet a step further, advocating a legal interpretation allowing his whole district--rather than its individual campuses--to sever itself from the state bureaucracy.

Fleming considers the creation of a charter district the ultimate in local control, freeing principals from paperwork and allowing elected trustees greater control over finances.

“The continuing and increasing flow of paperwork demands is literally killing us out in the field,” Fleming said. “While we’re required to jump through all these hoops, I’ve been observing the charter school movement and thinking, ‘If it’s good for the goose, why couldn’t it be good for the gander as well?’ ”

If trustees and teachers agree, and financial issues balance out, Capistrano is in line to become the first California school district to split completely from the state Education Department. It could also become the test case of the fledgling charter district movement--a bellwether suggesting how the state will react to large-scale defections and what provisions interested districts will have to meet.

About 10 other school districts from across the state are watching with interest, according to the California School Boards Assn.

“I’ve heard several other districts say that, if it’s a great financial and regulatory advantage, why don’t more school districts become charter districts? Even, why don’t all school districts become charter districts?’ said Grass Valley school trustee Yvonne Bartlett, who chairs the school board association’s task force on charter schools. “Capistrano will be the pilot for large charter districts.”

So far, two of California’s 1,000 school systems have converted all their schools to charters, while their headquarters still must follow state dictates. Both are in the Central Valley; neither has more than 2,000 students. A one-school district in the valley is in the pipeline to convert to charter status as well.

The fast-growing Capistrano school system, by contrast, educates 42,000 students, making it one of the state’s dozen largest districts. If it were to convert all schools to charters, it would be the first large district to do so.

In exchange for pledges of higher student achievement, charter schools are freed from most state regulations, and they gain greater control over finances and curriculum. California’s original charter school law, which took effect in 1993, allowed districts to convert all schools to charters, so long as no more than 10 schools partook.

The recent revisions changed all that, but left some details muddy.

Now, districts looking to convert to all-charter status must receive approval from both Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin and the State Board of Education. To win approval, districts must clearly delineate standards of achievement for students, be in sound financial health, gain consent from at least half the faculty members and write a provision allowing students and staff to transfer if they don’t choose to be part of the charter system.

Still unclear are several crucial matters: Would Capistrano get a funding boost by converting all its schools to charter schools? Could it still be eligible for state bond money for constructing new schools? Could the revised law really be interpreted to release whole districts from regulations or merely liberate the schools within a district, leaving administrators at headquarters still swamped with paperwork?

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Those concerns could be deal-breakers for Capistrano, a fast-growing school district that will need state building money to keep pace with rampant enrollment growth, Fleming said.

“It is regrettable that the language on all-charter school districts is so sparse,” acknowledged Patrick Chladek, who oversees the charter schools unit of the state Education Department. “A lot of this requires us sitting down with legal counsel and interpreting statute.”

Although Chladek agrees that state regulations are cumbersome, he believes the law does not allow for autonomous districts made up entirely of charter schools. That reading could augur a bumpy road for Capistrano, possibly requiring Fleming to seek the help of legislators.

If Capistrano pursues the charter option, many decisions would be made en route, said Pat Keegan, one of Eastin’s deputies. Both the Education Department and Eastin are amenable to approving all-charter-school districts so long as legal provisions are satisfied.

The specific vision of a Capistrano charter district would be crafted by parents, teachers and school officials, Fleming said. But he anticipates that more financial freedom would let the district reshuffle money to better pursue goals laid out six years ago. Those include further whittling class size, enhancing technology programs, emphasizing foreign language study and training students for a competitive job market.

For example, one school might juggle funds to buy laptops for every student, while another could redouble literacy efforts or restructure the school day for more instructional time.

Capistrano School Board President Marlene M. Draper said she is intrigued by the possibilities the charter law offers.

“We’re looking at all the legal aspects to make sure we don’t jeopardize anything we already have in the district,” she said. “We’re very proud of what we offer in this district, but we’re faced with negativism from the state. We have a fabulous school district. With more flexibility, we can make it even more wonderful for the children.”

To assuage fears at the outset, Fleming has already vowed not to tinker with teacher salaries or the collective bargaining agreement. Nor does he plan to revert to bilingual education or controversial “whole-language” methods for teaching reading. To hold schools responsible for student performance, Capistrano officials would still administer the state’s Stanford 9 standardized test each year, as well as exams of their own.

In the past, school districts including Orange Unified have dallied with the all-charter concept in an apparent move to inject religion into public schools. Fleming said his trustees would not do that.

Frank Weirath, head of Capistrano’s teachers union, said his members will consider the proposal with caution and interest. He wants to ensure that teachers don’t lose any rights in the process.

“We will have to take a look at any proposal and talk about it,” Weirath said. “It sounds like this could give more flexibility to schools, which could translate into better classroom conditions. . . . If our members have good working conditions, the children in the classroom benefit.”

Even though details must be hashed out, Fleming believes the idea could spark excitement among staff and parents if trustees sign on.

“It would bring a new spirit of entrepreneurism to the district,” he said. “If we eliminate busywork and red tape, teachers and principals can function better and focus more time on teaching and learning.”