California Assembly members approved SB 1263 Tuesday, a Santa Clarita Valley bill targeting a local school district’s proliferation of charter school approvals.

Photo courtesy of Einstein Academy Albert Einstein Academy for the Letters, Arts and Sciences officials hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for their elementary school at a former Pinecrest school site in Santa Clarita this week. Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox. Einstein Academy’s efforts to open an elementary school have managed ...

Santa Clarita Valley officials addressing what Senate Bill 1263 supporters call a “loophole” in charter school law garnered a victory Wednesday with in the bill’s passage in the Assembly Education Committee. Opponents of the bill called it an unnecessary statewide reaction to “a neighborhood brawl” in the Santa Clarita Valley during a committee hearing in Sacramento this week. The bill authored by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, is a response to Santa Clarita Valley superintendents seeking to stop the alleged “shopping” of charter school petitions to the Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District’s governing board.

The Castaic Union School District is looking at a pair of separate legal actions at a special board meeting Monday night, district officials said. A lawsuit against another school district and the potential for changing the election of the governing board are two items of discussion on the agenda. The meeting was called to formally approve the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan, a state-mandated spending plan the school district reviewed at a public hearing on Thursday. The district will also be adopting a general fund budget of $21.5 million.

Los Angeles County education officials put two more charter school approvals from the Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District on hold recently, in light of continued concerns about the district’s finances. A letter sent June 12 to school board President Mark Distaso was the second in a month, which sought to hold off on additional charter school petition approvals until the district’s budget and planned approvals can be reviewed by a Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team. “As with our stay of five board actions taken on May 22, 2014, and communicated to you in a letter dated May 30, 2014, (attached), we believe there is a high probability that these Board actions may be inconsistent with the fiscal recovery of the district,” the letter states.

The Newhall School District filed a lawsuit Friday against the Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District seeking to overturn the school district's approval of a charter school for Einstein Academy

Five Santa Clarita Valley school district superintendents sent out a letter calling on legislators to support SB 1263, which would reform charter school law

Despite requesting the use of Saugus Union School District facilities in November, Albert Einstein Academy refused the district's offer on Monday. School districts are legally required give charter schools equal access to facilities under Prop. 39.

SCVi, a charter school in Castaic, is celebrating the one year birthday for its unique food services program at The Cafe

Santa Clarita Valley educators cite problem with Einstein Academy's recent charter school petition and state law