Support Vallejo Students - Reject the Caliber Charter Appeal
Solano County Board of Education Trustees
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Vallejo students, like all Solano County students, deserve high-quality neighborhood public schools! When we invest in resources, supports, and opportunities for our students, they will thrive.
Unfortunately, the Caliber charter school chain is asking the Solano County board to overturn the Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Trustees' unanimous decision to deny the Caliber petition to create another charter school in Vallejo. The VCUSD Board of Trustees followed the law, which allowed them to deny the charter on the basis that VCUSD is not positioned to absorb the fiscal impact of the proposed charter school because the school district is under state receivership (has a state loan).
The Solano County Board of Education must uphold the VCUSD findings and refuse to take critical resources away from the students in Vallejo schools. If the charter is approved, Vallejo schools and students would face massive cuts. Our students cannot afford to lose more programs, more classes, and more resources.
Please sign this petition to let the Solano County Trustees know that you want them to follow the law and deny the charter appeal. We also encourage you to attend the decision meeting on April 13 and speak up for denial of the petition.
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To:
Solano County Board of Education Trustees
From:
[Your Name]
Vallejo students, like all Solano County students, deserve high-quality neighborhood public schools! When we invest in resources, supports, and opportunities for our students, they will thrive.
The Solano County Board of Education should follow the law and reject the Caliber Charter chain expansion appeal which would harm students in Vallejo schools.
In December, the Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously (5-0) to deny a petition from the Caliber charter school chain for a charter high school in Vallejo based on a finding of fiscal distress under Education Code Section 47605(c)8, which says:
“The school district is not positioned to absorb the fiscal impact of the proposed charter school. A school district satisfies this paragraph if it... is under state receivership. Charter schools proposed in a school district satisfying one of these conditions shall be subject to a rebuttable presumption of denial.”
Vallejo City Unified has a state loan, which is the definition of “state receivership” as intended by the legislature. Only 4 districts in the state, including VCUSD, qualify under this status.
This section of the law was added in 2019 in AB1505 by the legislature to give districts like Vallejo City Unified the opportunity to get their financial house in order without having to struggle with the fiscal impacts of new charter schools in their district.
The only fact required to support this finding for denial is the status of VCUSD as under state receivership.
When a c8 denial finding is appealed to the county board, the county board is required to review the district’s c8 findings and there is a rebuttable presumption of denial. In other words, unless the county board finds that Vallejo City Unified does not have a state loan (which would be an impossible finding), then the county board members must vote to deny the appeal.
Vallejo students deserve strong schools, with adequate supports and services so they can thrive - not cuts.
We call upon the Solano County Board of Education to support and protect all Vallejo students, honor the local school district decision, uphold the law, and deny the Caliber charter petition.