FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 12, 2000
Contact: Jan Passama (510) 670-4225
Resource: Sheila Jordan (510) 670-4140Board of Education Votes to Continue Charter for New Village School through Current School Year
(HAYWARD, CA) The Alameda County Board of Education voted last night to accept the recommendation of Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan to approve continued operation of New Village Charter School through the end of the current school year. The board’s vote included approval of the superintendent’s related proposal for the board to review the school’s status in April, to decide if the school will continue operating in the 2000-2001 school year.
The superintendent had qualified the recommendation because the staffing cuts required to reduce fiscal deficits could have a negative impact on student safety. Students could be at risk in an emergency, where sufficient adult help would be needed to help but would not be available. In response to that concern, Amber Blackwell, the school’s director, promised to ensure adequate staffing for safety through the use of parent volunteers.
The county board’s vote was based on the sound fiscal plan adopted by the school’s board, which the county office’s business services staff developed in cooperation with school leaders. Under this plan, the current $58,417 deficit would be reduced to $9,754 by the end of this school year. In addition, county office educational services staff will work closely with school staff in determining and maintaining strong curricular stability and relevance to charter provisions.
After initiating an inquiry in late summer, Superintendent Jordan learned that New Village School was $100,000 in debt; teachers were neither credentialed nor fingerprinted, as required by law; and there had been a complete turnover in staff. Considering these unstable circumstances, the superintendent indicated that she had no choice but to invoke AB1200 -- which assigns fiscal authority to the County Office of Education, appoint a fiscal adviser, and ask the Board to consider revocation of the New Village charter.
In November, the Alameda County Board of Education, which granted the original charter to New Village in September of 1997, voted to give the struggling school until January 11 to resolve its fiscal, management, and staffing problems.
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