Charter school officials call district offer fair
Author: Neil Nisperos , Staff Writer
CHINO - Officials working to open a new charter school in the Chino Valley next fall are now saying the school district's final location offer - to rent out their closed El Rancho Elementary School - is a fair one.
The shuttered El Rancho Elementary remains a top consideration after Chino Valley Unified officials agreed to concede additional space and funding to Oxford Preparatory Academy, should academy officials decide to accept the offer.
The shuttered El Rancho Elementary remains a top consideration after Chino Valley Unified officials agreed to concede additional space and funding to Oxford Preparatory Academy, should academy officials decide to accept the offer.
"The district's offer in my view was a fair offer, but we are still interested in the Los Serranos campus," said Jason Watts, who is expected to be the charter school principal when it opens next fall. "We have to consider where the students are coming from."
District officials recently provided Oxford Prep with a final rental offer for El Rancho in which it agrees to help pay the cost of modifications at the site for middle school science labs and locker rooms should the charter choose the site.
Charter leaders told the district such changes were needed to provide legally sufficient operational space equivalent to what the school district provides its students.
The district's new El Rancho offer also includes all of the site's classrooms. The earlier offer left out about 10 classrooms, Watts said, because earlier enrollment projections were lower than the current need.
"Basically this offers the charter as much of the El Rancho site as they want to rent out and the district agrees to share half the cost for classroom modification not to exceed $87,500," school board trustee Michael Calta said.
Still, Oxford Prep supporters say the closed Los Serranos remains their top choice to locate the school because the majority of applicants are from Chino Hills.
District officials have ruled out a Los Serranos offer because they plan to open a virtual online high school and other district educational uses there next fall.
The virtual school is envisioned to provide an online multimedia curriculum where students learn via the Internet from home.
Watts acknowledged disappointment in the absence of Los Serranos in the final offer and said a number of Los Serranos neighborhood residents are favorable to the charter occupying the nearby school.
Watts said charter officials hope to make a location decision by the district's May 1 deadline for the charter to respond.
Oxford Prep officials have already collected nearly 1,700 applications for fall enrollment - or about 1,000 more applications than seats are available.
Because of the number interested, charter officials plan to hold a random public student lottery at 9 a.m. on Saturday at CrossPoint Church, 6950 Edison Avenue, Chino.
For more information, visit oxfordpreparatoryacademy.blogspot.com.
District officials recently provided Oxford Prep with a final rental offer for El Rancho in which it agrees to help pay the cost of modifications at the site for middle school science labs and locker rooms should the charter choose the site.
Charter leaders told the district such changes were needed to provide legally sufficient operational space equivalent to what the school district provides its students.
The district's new El Rancho offer also includes all of the site's classrooms. The earlier offer left out about 10 classrooms, Watts said, because earlier enrollment projections were lower than the current need.
"Basically this offers the charter as much of the El Rancho site as they want to rent out and the district agrees to share half the cost for classroom modification not to exceed $87,500," school board trustee Michael Calta said.
Still, Oxford Prep supporters say the closed Los Serranos remains their top choice to locate the school because the majority of applicants are from Chino Hills.
District officials have ruled out a Los Serranos offer because they plan to open a virtual online high school and other district educational uses there next fall.
The virtual school is envisioned to provide an online multimedia curriculum where students learn via the Internet from home.
Watts acknowledged disappointment in the absence of Los Serranos in the final offer and said a number of Los Serranos neighborhood residents are favorable to the charter occupying the nearby school.
Watts said charter officials hope to make a location decision by the district's May 1 deadline for the charter to respond.
Oxford Prep officials have already collected nearly 1,700 applications for fall enrollment - or about 1,000 more applications than seats are available.
Because of the number interested, charter officials plan to hold a random public student lottery at 9 a.m. on Saturday at CrossPoint Church, 6950 Edison Avenue, Chino.
For more information, visit oxfordpreparatoryacademy.blogspot.com.
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