Modesto optometrist tries again to get OK for charter school
Will a Modesto optometrist get the go-ahead to conduct a multimillion-dollar school experiment?
That's up to the Stanislaus County Board of Education after Eldon Rosenow rested his case this week for a visual-learning charter school.
"When it stares you in the face, it's scary," Rosenow said Tuesday after a public hearing before the board. "Most charter schools are polished-up public schools, but this one is different."
The board is slated to decide Feb. 12 whether Great Valley Academy will open under its watch this fall. If the proposal is denied, backers can appeal to the state Board of Education.
Great Valley models its curriculum after a Michigan charter school that emphasizes problem-solving and visual learning through pictures. Rosenow and Steven Ingersoll, chief administrative officer of Grand Traverse Acad emy in Michigan, merge their backgrounds in optometry with an interest in neuroscience.
But the proposal also shakes up some of the traditional rules of public schools. It includes a longer school day and less homework. Students don't move to the next grade until they master a subject, earning a grade of B or above, so classrooms could house children of varying ages.
County Superintendent of Schools Tom Changnon has been vocal in his support for Great Valley. At Tuesday's meeting, he underscored that endorsement with a 10-minute video clip of Republican political consultant Frank Luntz speaking about the importance of educational innovation.
"What we're presented with is an opportunity to really step outside the box," Changnon said. "When I hear about an innovative school, I get excited."
The Sylvan Union School District denied Great Valley's charter petition in November, which allowed organizers to file an appeal with the county Office of Education. Great Valley applied to Sylvan because the proposed school site, the former Modesto Christian Elementary School at Tully Road and Woodrow Avenue, is within the district's boundaries.
District calls plan 'unrealistic'
"It was our belief it would be unlikely to be successful," Sylvan Superintendent John Halverson said of the Great Valley proposal. "It had a lot to do with the detail we did not see."
In a 13-page response, the district termed the proposal "unrealistic" in its financial and operational plan. Among the concerns:
No information was provided for the lease terms and conditions of the proposed school facility.
The February vote will be the second time the Great Valley charter proposal has come before the county Board of Education.
The board voted to deny the petition in July, just a month before leaders wanted to open the school. In response, parents and teachers fired off hundreds of angry e-mails and phone calls to board members and The Bee.
County Board of Education Chairman Luis Molina, who voted to deny the petition in July, told organizers then that he thought the charter should be considered by a local school district board before it came back before the county.
Molina still has concerns.
While the charter allows the school to open as a kindergarten through eighth-grade campus, Molina said he thinks initially capping enrollment at third or fourth grade would be easier to swallow.
"If we want to do something quote unquote innovative, let's take some small steps," Molina said. "My concern is they're trying to do too much at one point."
If the school does open its doors this fall, Molina said, he advocates tracking students over several years to gauge the program's success or failure.
"We can't keep doing the same old thing (in education)," he said. "But I think we need to take calculated risks."
On the Net: www.greatvalleyacademy.com.
Bee staff writer Merrill Balassone can be reached at mbalassone@modbee.com or 578-2337.
This story was originally published January 18, 2008 at 3:54 AM with the headline "Modesto optometrist tries again to get OK for charter school."