News
Judge denies legal fees for charter school
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- Written by Traci Newell - Staff Writer/tracin@latc.com
A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge last week denied Bullis Charter School’s request for reimbursement of legal fees from the Los Altos School District resulting from a lawsuit seeking reasonably equivalent facilities.
The charter school filed the motion in December 2012 after receiving a favorable ruling from the Court of Appeal on the previous facilities lawsuit. The motion asked the court to compel the district to pay the charter school’s attorney fees related to that case. As of October, the fees totaled approximately $1.53 million.
District delivers final offer for BCS facilities
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- Written by Traci Newell - Staff Writer/tracin@latc.com
The Los Altos School District delivered its final facilities offer for Bullis Charter School last week, including slight modifications from the preliminary offer.
The district and the charter school continued to disagree over projected enrollment at Bullis Charter School next year. Charter school officials estimated 678 in-district students, and the district designed its final offer to accommodate a counterprojection of 605 in-district students – a 73-student disparity.
BCS, district wrangle on eve of facilities offer
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- Written by Traci Newell - Staff Writer/tracin@latc.com
As Los Altos School District trustees labored to put the finishing touches on their facilities offer for Bullis Charter School last week, they received an earful from charter school parents.
More than 20 Bullis Charter School parents pleaded with trustees during their March 24 board meeting for more equitable facilities for their children, claiming that the district discriminates against charter school students.
LAH Education Committee reports enrollment data, receives a grilling
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- Written by Ellie Van Houtte - Staff Writer/ellievh@latc.com
When the Los Altos Hills Education Committee appeared before the city council March 20 to present its annual report, councilmembers focused more on the committee’s objectives and responsibilities than its enrollment and financial numbers.
“I’d like to know, if anything, what your Education Committee has done to promote choice in education here in Los Altos Hills in the past year,” said Councilwoman Courtenay C. Corrigan, who has children enrolled at Bullis Charter School. “In the two years I’ve been watching the committee, you’ve been challenged to diversify the committee and, as I understand, there is no one serving on the committee from BCS.”
Charter school drafts language to include BCS in bond measure
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- Written by Eliza Ridgeway - Staff Writer/elizar@latc.com
As the Los Altos School District prepares a bond measure for the November ballot, Bullis Charter School board members are drafting language to include the charter school in the push for new funding.
“We believe public-school tax dollars should be allocated fairly among all public school kids, including Bullis Charter School students,” said charter school board member Francis La Poll at the school’s March 17 board meeting.
BCS defends itself against county letter
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- Written by Traci Newell - Staff Writer/tracin@latc.com
Bullis Charter School Superintendent Wanny Hersey sent a letter to the Santa Clara County Office of Education last week defending the school’s enrollment process.
The letter is a response to a Feb. 20 letter from the county questioning the charter school’s enrollment practices – which include requiring parents to present a driver’s license – and claiming that a meeting held outside school district boundaries proved a violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meetings law.
LASD requests additional enrollment data from charter school
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- Written by Traci Newell - Staff Writer/tracin@latc.com
Los Altos School District trustees said they need additional enrollment information from Bullis Charter School officials before they are willing to allocate expanded facilities for the next school year.
The discrepancy between the facilities charter school officials requested and what the school district is willing to provide boils down to a gap in their respective enrollment projections. In its request for facilities, the charter school estimated 678 students – and now reports a total of 698 students registered for the 2014-2015 school year. The school district, on the other hand, developed its offer with a projection of 605 in-district charter school students, based on its historical projections.
