Following his latest rejection, the lead petitioner of a proposed charter school in Berkeley is looking to appeal to the Berkeley Unified School District — again.
The Berkeley Unified School District’s Board of Education denied the proposal for the school, Integrity Education Center, for the second time this year in mid-October, following a staff recommendation that declared that the petition “failed to meet various critical, applicable legal requirements and standards.”
The recommendation was approved with no opposition from any of the board members, according to Jessica Hilton, the district’s interim spokesperson.
“My response to BUSD decision to deny the petition of IEC is to request a meeting with a member of the Board of Trustees, Superintendent, and staff responsible for conducting the research,” said James Madden, the lead petitioner of Integrity Education Center, in an email. “The purpose of the meeting is to point out flaws on their findings and obtain the corrections so that school can be approved.”
As of Oct. 16, Madden said that his initial email request for a meeting had not been responded to. He could not be reached to confirm whether his second attempt had received a response by Sunday.
While the district did not clarify whether it had received Madden’s request, Deborah Turner, secretary to district superintendent Bill Huyett said in an email that under California law, the state Board of Education can authorize charter school applications that have been rejected locally.
“He has to appeal to a higher authority, not us,” Turner said in the email.
According to the California Department of Education website, anyone may develop, circulate and submit a petition to establish a new charter school — not converted from an existing public school — if he or she gathers the signatures of 50 percent of interested teachers or 50 percent of parents of pupils interested in enrolling in the school.
According to Madden, Integrity Education Center would target students who have or are at risk of dropping out of school and who have had criminal records, substance abuse problems or deficiencies in life skills.
Comment Policy
Comments should remain on topic, concerning the article or blog post to which they are connected. Brevity is encouraged. Posting under a pseudonym is discouraged, but permitted. The Daily Cal encourages readers to voice their opinions respectfully in regard to the readers, writers and contributors of The Daily Californian. Comments are not pre-moderated, but may be removed if deemed to be in violation of this policy. Click here to read the full comment policy.