State Board OKs Charter School

A plan for a charter school in Pacific Palisades that was rejected by the Los Angeles Board of Education has instead been approved by the state board, becoming one of only five charter schools overseen by the state.

By a unanimous vote Wednesday in Sacramento, the state Board of Education approved the creation of New West Charter Middle School, scheduled to open in September for grades six through eight.

Approving New West’s charter and another for a high school in Inglewood were unusual moves for the state board, which typically leaves charter-granting to local boards of education.

In New West’s case, Los Angeles board members had denied the application in August 2000. On appeal, the Los Angeles County Board of Education also rejected it.

So the 160 parents leading the drive to create the school appealed to Sacramento.

“The road to the state and final approval was a long and arduous one,” said David Eagle, whose group lobbied for its application for more than two years.

New West plans to open next fall with 300 students and grow to 600. Classes will be rigorous and tailored to individual students’ learning styles and abilities, Eagle said.

“We needed a truly independent middle school that could aspire to be something special and become a model for the way middle schools of the future could be,” he said.

Although New West is eyeing a site in affluent Pacific Palisades, the school will be open to students from all areas, Eagle said. Students will be selected by lottery.

With the state board’s blessing, New West and Animo Inglewood Charter High School became the 431st and 432nd charter schools approved to operate in California. The Inglewood school aims to duplicate the success of a pioneering charter high school in nearby Lennox.

Charter schools receive tax dollars but operate independently of school districts and are freed from most state regulations. That autonomy allows them to design less traditional programs.