WATSONVILLE — More than 100 people packed the Watsonville City Council Chambers Wednesday to ask the Pajaro Valley Unified School District to approve a new charter school, which if successful would open in the fall 2019 school year.
The families, many of them wearing blue shirts already emblazoned with the school’s logo, told the trustees that they want a new choice in their children’s education.
Watsonville Prep Charter School would be run by Navigator Schools, Inc.
That nonprofit organization already runs Gilroy Prep and Hollister Prep in those cities.
Speaking through a Spanish translator, parent Maria Hernandez said she hopes to send her children to the school.
“We’re not asking you to open a restaurant or a prison,” she said. “We’re asking you to open a school with a better choice for the students and the parents.”
Navigator Schools CEO Kevin Sved touted high test scores at Gilroy and Hollister prep schools, and said the organization has “reversed” the achievement gap, allowing English learners and low-income students to outperform their peers statewide.
He also said that the districts that govern Hollister and Gilroy Prep schools recently renewed those school’s charters.
Sved said the organization was drawn to Watsonville because it has similar demographics to that of its other schools. He also said the organization could help turn around low test scores in PVUSD.
Navigator officials have said that more than 200 families have signed intent to enroll forms.
Watsonville Prep would start with two classes each of kindergarten, first- and second-grade, for a total of 180 students. It would add another grade every year until it had an eighth-grade class.
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Opposition
Despite the show of support, most of the people who spoke at the meeting were there to urge the trustees to reject the charter petition.
Many in the room said that PVUSD already provides the services that Watsonville Prep is proposing.
“Your petition offers nothing that our district doesn’t offer,” Diamond Technology Institute teacher Ian Licata said.
Guadalupe Gallardo, who said she attended Hollister Prep, and supports the petition, disagreed.
“They say you already have everything, but it’s not showing in the kids,” she said. “We need a new thing. We need a different education for my kid and all kids in the community.”
Opponents also said it would draw money from PVUSD’s budget and away from existing schools that need it.
The lion’s share of concern came from where the school would be located.
Navigator Schools Director of Community Outreach Kirsten Carr indicated in an earlier interview with this newspaper that Navigator would use Proposition 39, a 2000 state law that requires school districts to share their facilities with charter schools.
However, in an email on Thursday, Sved stated that the organization intends to locate in “non-district facilities.”
“There would not be an obligation for PVUSD to pay,” he said.
PVUSD spokeswoman Alicia Jimenez said the item is negotiable, and would be addressed if the petition is approved.
Still, the possibility drew several teachers to the meeting to talk about existing issues with space.
Alianza Charter School art teacher Caitlin Johnston told the trustees that she currently lacks a classroom, and wheels the entirety of her supplies on a cart.
Johnston said that at least 12 teachers throughout the district face the same problem, and that a shortage of space has led to overcrowding in some classrooms.
“It is inconceivable to me the district would consider giving facilities to an outside organization,” she said.
Other teachers reminded the trustees that existing facilities are dilapidated and in need of repairs.
Rachel Williams, a parent at Mar Vista Elementary School, warned that the nonprofit organization would be more concerned with its “bottom line” than in the education of its students.
“I am concerned they want to run a school in our district like a business,” she said. “That was a business presentation, not an education presentation.”
Licata agreed that students should have more choices in their education, but urged the trustees to instead support the district’s existing schools.
Licata pointed out that, as an independent charter school, Navigator’s teachers would not be PVUSD employees and would fall outside the district’s jurisdiction.
Maria Rosa said that Watsonville Prep would be independent and as such would not be under the control of the district.
“I am here to plead that you not take on another school with facilities you’ll have to manage before you fix and improve the facilities at the schools you currently oversee,” she said.
Alejandro Madi-Cerrada, a labor relations representative for California School Employees Association, said the workers’ union is “100 percent opposed” to the charter school.
“Public education is not for sale, and we need to continue to support public accountability,” he said.
It is not clear where the school would be located if approved. Sved agreed that district space is at a premium, and said the organization is looking at “a number” of facilities in Watsonville. He declined to specify those locations when asked.
“We’re very early on in this process to be having this discussion,” Sved said.
Board President Leslie DeRose was skeptical about the fact that one board would oversee all three schools in different cities.
“A board is supposed to represent the community in which they reside,” she said.
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Past controversy
In 2014, charter petitions by Navigator were rejected by Salinas City Elementary School District, Alisal Union School District, Morgan Hill Unified School District and the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
In 2015, a group of 17 parents at Gilroy Prep revolted, demanding the ouster of Navigator’s then-executive director James Dent.
The parents cited “irregularities and failures” and a “pattern of mismanagement” at the school, according to an article in the Gilroy Dispatch.
Dent was accused of firing employees who did not agree with his actions.
He is currently listed as Chief Academic Officer of Navigator Schools.
Carr said those troubles explain why the organization has not submitted a new petition in the past three years.
“We definitely encountered some hurdles and challenges in that time frame,” Carr said. “As an organization we took that opportunity to really look at our areas of strength and what we had to work on.”
Navigator officials decided to work on its “organizational health,” and hired a new leadership team that included Sved, Carr said.
The nonprofit also now conducts bi-annual employee surveys, with any score below 80 percent triggering a review, Carr said.
Carr said she was not surprised about the opposition to the charter at the meeting.
“We knew we would encounter questions,” she said. “We are looking forward to being able to answer questions and share our commitment to the community.”
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Next steps
PVUSD staff now has 60 days to review the charter petition and make a recommendation to the trustees.
If the trustees reject the petition, Navigator plans to appeal to the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, Carr said.
The organization would then have 180 days to submit the unmodified petition.
Under California education code, school districts can only deny petitions only if they find deficiencies in the petition.
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For information, visit www.navigatorschools.org.
