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June 2, 2010
Dear Bullis Parents and Families:
Last year, the Bullis Charter School Board initiated legal action against the Los Altos School District because we believed they did not allocate public school facilities funded by all taxpayers in a fair manner between public charter school students and other public school students. We still hold that belief.
The Court"s ruling last year stated that the District"s facilities offer "was inadequate on the issue of outdoor non-teaching facilities" such as the use of play fields. While the Court ruled in our favor on this important point, the Court did not address a number of fundamental questions raised by BCS.
We have examined both legal and public policy avenues to resolve these fundamental matters. We continue our efforts to work with the District to provide the best educational environment possible for our children. We have also been careful to keep our legal options open. As such, yesterday, BCS filed its opening brief in an appeal of last year"s decision. Our legal filing seeks greater clarity regarding California law on the allocation of public school facilities. Among the key points we raise in the legal filing are that in allocating a reasonably equivalent share of these facilities to BCS the District:
must consider ALL the space at comparable District schools and the size and condition of each campus as a whole so as to avoid disparate treatment,
must take into account the limited availability of shared facilities (i.e., a soccer field shared two days a week is not equivalent to 100 percent exclusive use), and
may not rely on facilities built and paid for by BCS (such as the Multi-Purpose Room ) to offset its obligation to provide an equivalent amount of the public school facilities it administers.
Please read the legal filings mentioned below for a more complete depiction of the issues. The outcomes of this legal action, and our continued facilities negotiations with the District, have direct impacts on our student learning environment. A key part of achieving our vision for BCS requires that we actively plan for its present and future facility needs. Our decision to appeal the previous court ruling was not an easy one. After considering all of the issues at stake, our Board feels it is a necessary path to pursue in support of our students.
Our overriding mission is to provide a high quality education for children attending our public school. Everything we do is aimed toward that goal. Pursuing both constructive public policy strategies and seeking greater legal clarity through the courts is essential to achieving our goals. We continue to seek every opportunity to engage the District in constructive discussions as well.
Finally, from the beginning of this legal path, we have provided up-to-date information with you as soon as it becomes available. In that spirit, the court filings are now online. The timeline for an appellate decision can take time. We expect a decision sometime in 2011. We will continue to keep you informed with updates.
Sincerely,
Ken Moore
Chair, Bullis Charter School Board of Directors