Charter School Backers Close to Filing Petition

Supporters of a new Elk Grove charter school focused on civic leadership are closing in on the 100 signatures they need to file a petition for recognition with the , City Councilmember Gary Davis said Thursday night.

Spearheaded by Davis and veteran local teacher Geri Keskeys, The Grove Leadership Academy, if approved, would be the second independent charter school in Elk Grove not aimed solely at home-schoolers. Organizers hope to open the school with grades K-7 in fall 2012, expanding to include a high school by 2014.

About 100 parents, some with kids in tow, attended an open house at Thursday where they heard about plans for small class sizes, longer school days, community service projects—and high expectations for families.

“The Grove isn’t going to be for everyone,” Davis, who also works for the education reform group EdVoice, told the audience. Families will be expected to get involved in their children’s education, he said, signing contracts agreeing to volunteer at the school for 40 hours each year.

That requirement raised eyebrows among some parents.

“I’m all for parent participation, but 40 hours might be pushing it,” said Azeab Biadegligne, whose six-year-old daughter currently attends .

Still, Biadegligne signed a petition saying she was “meaningfully interested” in sending her children to the new school.  Though her daughter’s current school was “excellent,” she said, it had become more crowded recently, and the library and computer lab had been lost to budget cuts.

“Here you have the parents involved and a lot of intellectual people coming together from different backgrounds for the same purpose,” she said. “I can’t afford private school, but this is the next step.”

Denise Crevin, the mother of a first-grader and a pre-schooler, also signed a petition, saying she appreciated the school’s focus on training future public servants.

“Living here in the state capital, we might as well take advantage of that,” she said.

Charter schools—schools funded with public dollars but managed independently from local school districts—are often lauded for their flexibility and innovation. But they’ve also faced criticism that they can cause burnout among teachers, siphon money from local districts, and fail to provide results beyond those produced by traditional public schools.

Supporters of The Grove say they aim to file their petition with the school district Oct. 18. If the district denies the petition, The Grove could appeal the decision to the Sacramento County Office of Education.

A site for the elementary and middle school is already under consideration—the Guaranty Bank building off Harbor Pointe Drive in Laguna West—and organizers say they will share staff training and resources with Rocklin Academy, a charter school with a similar curriculum that boasts some of the highest test scores in the Sacramento region.

Davis said about 70 parents had signed petitions by the time the meeting’s question-and-answer period began.  The Grove plans to open with about 200 students, and state law requires signatures from parents representing at least half that number.