Red Shield charter school plan deserves consideration

While we're not prepared to fully endorse the charter application for the Great Valley Academy, we do like the innovative thinking going on with the proposal to open a charter school at The Salvation Army's Red Shield Center in south Modesto.

The Bret Harte neighborhood, where the Red Shield center is located, has serious problems with gangs and violence — and with staying in school. As Salvation Army Capt. Martin Ross points out, one in three teens in the area doesn't graduate from high school.

Ross envisions the existing Red Shield Center expanding its role, becoming a place for school during the day and then for the current after-school and evening activities.

Under such an arrangement, youngsters would have a safe place to be all day and pretty much every day, in an environment that promotes critical learning and healthy recreation.

There are about two dozen charter schools already operating in Stanislaus County, some under the umbrella of a traditional public school district and some under other organizations. Some have an independent study format and others use classroom settings.

But few, if any, are located in areas with as many challenges as south Modesto — an area with some significant obstacles as well as some great opportunities.

Charter schools are public schools, supported by tax dollars, so there's no tuition — a huge draw, especially for low- or limited-income families. But charter schools also have more flexibility in terms of hours and how they operate.

That's been proven to appeal to families who want an alternative to their neighborhood public school — sometimes motivated by religious reasons, sometimes because of a bad experience in the traditional school setting, and sometimes because of greater parent involvement or smaller class sizes.

Higher ups in The Salvation Army will have to agree to the arrangement Ross is proposing, and the Great Valley Academy will need an OK for the charter campus, intended for kindergarten through eighth grade.

As required, Great Valley applied first through the Modesto City Schools, which doesn't have a good track record with charter schools. Its only charter school, Modesto Virtual Academy, lasted just a year, and the district hasn't been receptive to charters operated by outside entities. Furthermore, a charter school at Red Shield would be in direct competition with the district's Bret Harte Elementary and the adjoining middle school, Hanshaw.

The school board, however, has two new members, so it's hard to predict what it will do when it considers the proposal on Jan. 17.

If Great Valley's charter application is rejected, it could then go through the county Board of Education, which approved Great Valley's original charter campus on Tully Road in Modesto and has been much more open to charter schools.

Great Valley has strong supporters as well as equally strong critics, including some of its former parents. While we share their concern over low test scores, it's important to note that Bret Harte also has low scores, as do Shackelford and Fairview, the other two public elementary schools in south Modesto.

All three of those traditional public schools are on program improvement, meaning their test scores consistently have been so low that parents have the option of sending their children to another school in the Modesto district.

The options for south Modesto elementary students are Sonoma and Wilson — both far enough away to discourage some parents from choosing them. The option for Hanshaw is Roosevelt Junior High, also miles away.

To be sure, there are some serious obstacles to the Red Shield plan, including the perennially high dropout rate and lower literacy levels.

But there also are some very promising opportunities, including being able to give families in that area a real choice of schools.

For that reason, we believe the Red Shield charter school proposal merits serious consideration.