Napa charter school proponents appeal rejections
The supporters of a charter school planned for downtown Napa will take their case to California authorities, after being turned down by a local school district and county education office.
The nonprofit foundation organizing the Mayacamas Charter Middle School will appeal to the State Board of Education for the right to open the self-governing grade 6-8 academy in downtown Napa, according to Jolene Yee, a lead petitioner for the project.
Petitioners moved ahead with the appeal after the charter was voted down by the Napa Valley Unified School District board in December, and again on appeal by trustees of the Napa County Office of Education last month. Opponents on the board, and a department study of the project, predicted Mayacamas' creation would cut into NVUSD's attendance-based education funding from the state by draining off students, and risk contributing to program cuts and layoffs at other district schools.
In a news release Thursday afternoon, the Napa Foundation for Options in Education again blasted the Napa school district for what it called "multiple, substantial, and prejudicial abuses of discretion" as its staff recommended against approving the charter school, which has been slated to open this August with about 180 students and gradually raise enrollment to 336 by its fifth year.
When the county education board voted 5-2 against granting a charter to Mayacamas, it failed to support its decision with factual findings as required and did not provide them until days later, the foundation said in its statement.
Mayacamas' organizers had appealed to NCOE after the Napa school board voted unanimously Dec. 9 against the charter school, citing what members described as poor planning, a shaky financial plan, and over-optimistic forecasts of enrollment growth while student numbers decline elsewhere in the school district.
Spokespeople for the Mayacamas charter have said the school would provide an alternative for young teens needing a small-school atmosphere with closer teacher attention to thrive, and also will offer a technology-focused education based on the model of Napa's existing New Technology High. Supporters also have warned that rejecting such alternative schools would accelerate NVUSD's years-long enrollment loss by pushing more parents to enroll their children in private schools, or turn to homeschooling.
If approved for a charter, Mayacamas would operate inside the building at 983 Napa St. that housed St. John the Baptist Catholic School before it closed in 2020.
A message left late Thursday with NVUSD Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti was not immediately returned. Schools in the Napa district are closed this week for spring break.
NCOE spokesperson Seana Wagner declined to comment about the Mayacamas school foundation's latest appeal. Beyond the NCOE board's March ruling, "we do not have additional input to provide at this time," she said in an email Thursday.
Other local charter academies like River Middle School and the Napa Valley Language Academy have been taken under direct district control in recent years, and River is scheduled to close in June, to be replaced by the English-Spanish language academy Unidos Middle School. NVUSD's only active charter is Stone Bridge, which operates in east Napa on the former campus of Mt. George Elementary.