Health & Fitness
Three-Quarters of Charter Petition Signers from NUSD Schools
Math at work: 382 charter petition signatures submitted; one-half of the charter petition signatures represent Rancho students; three-quarters are currently enrolled in an NUSD school.
About three-quarters of the students with a meaningful intent to attend North Bay Academy, the new charter hoping to open for the 2013-14 school year, currently attend a Novato Unified School District school, according to a press release from the charter school creators.
In total, the parents of 382 students signed the charter school petition submitted to the district Oct. 11 by the North Bay Educational Foundation.
The release also noted that half of the 382 students are attending Rancho Elementary. The petition also included 17 signatures from teachers with a meaningful intent to teach at the proposed North Bay Academy.
Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The release notes the number of signatures overall "significantly exceed[s] the required number to show viability of the school and its operating budget for the inaugural 2013/14 school year."
NBEF board members Robert Verhoeff and MJ Lonson are both quoted, with Verhoeff noting that their focus now turns to furthering NBEF's community outreach and education.
Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Lonson is quoted as saying, "Support for a Core Knowledge public charter school here in Novato has been tremendous to date. In addition to a significant number of signatures from Rancho parents, who have previously demonstrated a preference for educational alternatives and schools of choice, we are pleased to see broad-based support from families in 23 schools throughout Marin and Sonoma counties."
So now we know where half of the students come from. Is the fact that half come from Rancho surprising? Personally, I thought the Rancho contingent would represent a greater percentage. I don't know, yet, how it breaks down by pre-K, elementary and middle. More information will be coming out, likely on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, the district has just a couple more days to verify the completeness of the petition, and to answer the question of when the 30-day clock in which to hold a public meeting starts and stops.
Stay tuned.
[Note: I received the press release as part of an email last night, and I've created and uploaded a PDF of the release in its entirety.]
[Another note: I received word from NBEF at about 9:45 a.m. Oct. 16 that NUSD has requested additional information. At this time, NBEF is planning to provide the additional information and resubmit the petition later today, Oct. 16.]
