WATSONVILLE — The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a tentative offer of seven portable classrooms at E.A. Hall Middle School to a charter school set to open in August.
Navigator Schools, which plans to run Watsonville Prep School, has not yet officially responded to the offer.
During the school board meeting, Navigator Director of Community Outreach Kirsten Carr called the offer a “good first step,” but added it contains concerns which she said “will be discussed.”
“The staff and students of Watsonville Prep School are so looking forward to the first day of school in autumn, and the thought that we might be able to do it at a site in the core of Watsonville is even more exciting,” she said.
Watsonville Prep plans to start with as many as 180 students in kindergarten through second grade, and add one grade per year until eighth grade. Numbers estimated by PVUSD put that number at 113.
The school’s charter calls for an eventual total of about 420 students.
According to PVUSD Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez, five of the portables will be for classrooms, one for administration and one for special education.
Under a state law known as Proposition 39, school districts must provide facilities for charter schools located within their boundaries.
In trying to find space for the charter, PVUSD officials looked at sites throughout the City of Watsonville, including all the district’s elementary schools, Rodriguez said.
That was not an easy task in a district that doesn’t have enough room for its own classrooms, she said.
Currently 20 teachers are paid “roving” stipends because they lack their own classroom space, Rodriguez said.
According to Rodriguez, E.A. Hall recently added a new wing thanks to Measure L funds, and the unused classrooms in the offer to Navigator were slated for removal in the summer. Giving them to Navigator will therefore not affect current classes, she said.
Still, the portable classrooms are not ready for use.
“For us to be able to use them we do have to do some improvements to those portables,” she said.
The district would also install fencing to separate the schools, and install a portable bathroom similar to the one at Alianza Charter School and Watsonville Charter School for the Arts, Rodriguez said.
In addition, the Watsonville Prep students would use the school’s cafeteria when E.A. Hall’s students were not in it, Rodriguez said.
She also said the district would adjust the bell schedules to avoid possible traffic problems during drop-off and pickup times.
Navigator is also considering renting the Porter Building in downtown Watsonville, according to the City of Watsonville. The building previously held Ceiba College Prep charter school.
Under Prop. 39, the school district must present a “preliminary offer” for facilities by Feb. 1. The charter school then provides a response by March 1, which is followed by a final offer by April 1. If accepted, the district and charter would finalize the agreement by May 1.
In other action, the trustees approved a plan to end its contract with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education for career technical education, and instead implement its own program beginning in July. The trustees also approved a plan to hire a coordinator and a teacher for the program.
Rodriguez said the plan will save the district more than $500,000 per year.
“It will give us more flexibility, because we won’t have to encounter the overhead costs of another entity,” she said. “This is another way to look at efficiencies so we’re not spending money where we don’t need to be spending it.”
The trustees also approved an independent audit of the budget from the 2017-18 school year, which showed no significant problems. California law requires all school districts to conduct an annual independent audit of its books.
“The auditing team found the district’s financial records to represent the true financial condition of the district and that there were no material weaknesses in the internal control over financial reporting,” the report reads.
