Saturday, June 13, 2009

Charter school proponents offer information session

Chino Champion Article, Saturday June 13, 2009

An information meeting on the proposed Oxford Preparatory Academy charter school will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday June 14, at the Premiere Academy/Chino Hills Chinese School, 5847, Chino Hills.

Two 30-minute sessions will be presented on the proposed school's program, a parent learning agreement and possible locations for the school. Lead petitioners will answer questions from 5 to 5:30 p.m.

A previous information session was held Tuesday at the same location and attended by approximately 100 people, according to founding charter member Carrie Birchler. She said parents from the Ontario-Montclair School District were among those attending that meeting, as were parents from private schools.

"We got some really positive feedback," Ms. Birchler said.

The school board is expected to vote on the charter school petition when it meets at 7 p.m. Thursday June 18, at the district office, 5130 Riverside Drive, Chino.

Ms. Birchler said that if the school board denies the charter, the founding charter members will petition the county schools office for the school on June 19.

The proposed kindergarten through eighth grade charter school is designed to prepare students for university level academics, will offer elective-type courses and will be community service-oriented, according to its petitioners.

California charter schools must have credentialed teachers and cannot charge tuition because they receive state and local funding that is based on student enrollment, just as public schools do. The schools are generally exempt from most laws that apply to public schools, so administrators, faculty and parents have considerable freedom in designing their educational programs, according to the Charter Schools Development Center.

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