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A Superior Court judge held off on a ruling about Einstein Academy’s charter petition last week, citing an appeal filed by the Newhall School District prior to the hearing.
A Superior Court judge held off on a ruling about Einstein Academy’s charter petition last week, citing an appeal filed by the Newhall School District prior to the hearing.

UPDATE: Acton-Agua Dulce To Decide On Einstein Academy Charter

Acton-Agua Dulce officials plan to announce a decision on Einstein Academy’s new charter school petition Jan. 8, officials said.


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Officials with the Albert Einstein Academy for the Letters, Arts and Sciences are introducing a new revised petition on that date, according to AADUSD Superintendent Brent Woodard.

There was a hearing Dec. 4, but afterward, AEA officials were asked to revise the petition submitted, which they’ve already done, Woodard said.

In January, AADUSD governing board members are planning to  host the hearing for the new petition, but there will be an action item on the agenda, which will allow them to make a decision that night, he added. They also have the option of rejecting the petition or tabling it for later discussion.

The charter schools’ officials faced several Santa Clarita Valley denials for its petition to operate a K-6 charter school in the Santa Clarita Valley, which led the school to seek permission from the Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District.

(Here’s a look at the audit report prepared by FCMAT.)

AADUSD officials granted the petition, which prompted a lawsuit from the Newhall School District against Einstein Academy and AADUSD, claiming the school was usurping Newhall’s local control, among other legal concerns.

There is a time factor involved in the board’s decision, because the court set a February deadline for the school to attain new permission to continue its charter school operations.

“It’ll be up tto the board to see if they’re ready to make a decision or not,” Woodard said.

The changes to the petition brought forth in December include the removal of a Huntington Beach extended learning program and the exclusion of a plan for a small expansion of the school’s secondary program.

For the latter change, Woodard said AADUSD thought it was more appropriate for AEA to get permission from the Hart district if it wants to expand those services, because AEA already has the approval for a seventh- to 12th-grade charter school from the Hart district.

The presiding judge named Newhall as the prevailing party, set aside the previously approved charter and is now asking Einstein to re-seek permission from AADUSD to operate a charter school in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District officials are now considering the move, which must be approved by the governing board.

Einstein is seeking to apply for a program slightly larger in scope than the previous petition, while the Newhall is seeking to have AADUSD deny the charter or confine the program to AADUSD boundaries.

The charter was set aside after a judge ruled AADUSD officials didn’t properly document their fact-finding efforts for a school site within their own boundaries before approving a charter school site within NSD boundaries back in December 2013.

Related:  Einstein Academy Re-applies For AADUSD Charter

Making the case for AEA was Executive Director Jeffrey Shapiro, who pointed to the schools’ academic success at the K-6 and 7-12 grade levels.

“We’re serving over 1,000 students,” Shapiro said. “We’re employing the same program, the same philosophy and following the same mission at the elementary level as we are at the secondary level — and that is individualizing the program, limiting class size, making sure there is a focus on meeting the needs of each student.”

The schools’ legal counsel provided documentation to show unsuccessful efforts to find a suitable spot for the new charter within AADUSD boundaries.

Newhall School District officials, including four of the district’s governing board members and Superintendent Marc Winger, said academics were not the issue as much as their concerns with sovereignty and the legality of the charter school petition.

“Our main concern is not about the quality of the school and it’s not about parent choice and it’s certainly not about a lawfully established high school program,” Winger said. “It’s about the law, it’s about the lawful establishment of charter schools, and it’s about a charter school that should be compliant with the law.”

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KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

UPDATE: Acton-Agua Dulce To Decide On Einstein Academy Charter

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.