DPLU threatens Charter School

Last week at a meeting called by the New School, parents voted to take whatever action is necessary to defend their school, which has one of the highest API scores in the state.

The New School, a Vallecitos public charter school located in Fallbrook, was presented with a “Stop Work” notice on September 6 in relation to a state-approved portable classroom placed on the property.

Jeff Murphy, Chief of the Department of Planning & Land Use (DPLU), Building Division, said, “The New School has placed a modular classroom on the site. We do not show that they have obtained permits or approval for the modular. Their contention is that they are exempt from local codes and ordinances under state law. We do not concur with that. They provided documentation they felt supported their case. We do not agree with their interpretation of state code. We indicated that if they choose to have a school population of 100 students or more on that site, a Major Use Permit [MUP] would be required.”

New School attorney Paul C. Minney said in a brief to Murphy, “The State of California enacting Government Code Section 53094 specifically carved out exemption for local educational agencies (e.g., school district, charter schools, county offices of education) from the general rule that local agencies must comply with local building and zoning ordinances. Hence, a charter school may exercise, by vote of its board, the right to exempt itself from local zoning requirements.”

Local legislators who have created and supported charter law agree with the stance of the New School.

Assemblyman Ray Haynes, in a letter of support to the Charter School, wrote, “They [the county] are wrong, and a simple read of the state’s education code would prove to them just how wrong they are. In all respects, charter schools are public schools, subject to the same rights as public schools. They are simply public schools with fewer (not more) regulations on their operation.”

The State Education code allows charters who cannot find appropriate facilities in their sponsoring district to locate elsewhere. The New School was chartered in Fallbrook with the knowledge and consent of the State Board of Education. The county maintains that because they are outside the Vallecitos geographic boundary, it results in the loss of their public school rights and they should be treated like a private entity.

Senator Dennis Hollingsworth disagrees, saying, “State law does not differentiate among charter schools. A charter school is a public school no matter where it is located. As such, the charter is governed by the state education code. The county is flat wrong. They have no jurisdiction, period.”

According to New School Director Sue Miller-Hurst, she went to the county initially. “When we looked at this site in 2004, we sent a school architect to the county for a conditional use permit and he was told we did not need one because we were a public school. When we wanted to change a classroom, the owner’s contractor went to the county for a building permit and was again told, ‘You are a state school; we have no jurisdiction to issue you a permit.’ When I went to Supervisor Horn regarding a piece of land that had been pre-approved by the Division of State Architects for a school site, he said, ‘You are a public school. Stop asking and go forward.’ I asked him to put it in a letter and he said, ‘That would be asking. You are a public school and you do not have to ask.’ Then they show up in force the second day of school with no notice or warning and shut our kids out of their classroom. At some point we have a reliance issue. We should be able to rely on the answers we are given from the county.

“Besides the fact that we are a public school, we do fit into local zoning. We lease four parcels that are V1 and V3 zoning, each zoned for a small school of 50 students or less.”

In lieu of closing the school immediately, the county proposed a settlement agreement that would allow the school to stay at their present site until July 2007 but require the New School to adhere to county zoning and permitting processes wherever they relocate in the county, which would likely require an MUP. Miller-Hurst said, “A major use permit could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take years. A small public school has neither the time nor the money and we would be the only school in the county required to get such a permit. This would mean the end of the New School. From the correspondence and behaviors, it looks as if this is their intent.”

Senior Deputy County Counsel Paul Mehnert says, “It is certainly not our intent. We’ve offered an agreement where they could remain in operation through this school year, where they would come in for required permits or locate elsewhere. We’ve worked with these folks to try and find a solution – that is our objective.”

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, which was not signed by the November 6 deadline, “any breach of this Agreement shall result in the assessment of monetary penalties that shall include but not be limited to $2,500 per violation per day for violations of the Zoning Ordinance.”

New School attorney Jerry Simmons said, “Our firm represents two-thirds of all charter schools in the state of California [600 total] and I know of no other school that has been required to get a major use permit.”

According to Miller-Hurst, 40 children have been displaced. Their classrooms are in nooks and crannies. They have to rotate outside every 30 minutes in order to maintain fire code requirements, weathering heat and cold. She says, “It is unconscionable that these 6- and 7-year-olds are made to suffer because of the county’s actions.

“Our 915 score is the highest single score in Fallbrook, Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Valley Center and actually one of the highest in the state. Our greatest responsibility as a society is the nurturing and education of our children. We should not forget for one moment that they have due process rights protected by the California constitution. How are the county’s actions serving the greater common good?”

Writers who contributed to this story were Debbie Ramsey, Lisa Harpole and Julie Reeder, who owns the property where the New School is presently located and a school has operated continuously for seven years.