Bullis MV Charter

Resources:


link to the presentation given to MVWSD by Bullis, Oct. 3, 2018
A link to the Bullis petition to MVWSD
A link to the Bullis Request for Proposition 39 Facilities for the 2019-20 School Year 
Charter oversight fact sheet (DWK)- Dec. 20, 2018
Charter School Oversight - CASBO presentation (DWK) - Dec. 20, 2018

Copies of MVWSD and Bullis correspondence

Jan. 4, 2019 - Letter from Bullis regarding followup to charter approval
Jan. 23, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding compliance with public integrity statutes
Jan. 23, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding admission process and lottery
Feb. 1, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding  preliminary Prop 39 proposal
Feb. 2, 2019 - Letter from Bullis regarding Public Records Act Request
Feb. 12, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding California Public Records Act Request
Feb. 15, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding Request for Presentation
Feb. 15, 2019 - California Public Records Act Request to Bullis
Feb. 25, 2019 - CPRA Request Response from Bullis
Mar. 1, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding admission process and lottery information follow up
Mar. 1, 2019 -  Letter to Bullis request for presentation follow up
Mar. 1, 2019 - Response from Bullis regarding Prop 39 preliminary offer
Mar. 6, 2019 - Letter from Bullis regarding response to present at 3/7/19 Board meeting
Mar. 11, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding request clarification regarding requirements for admissions practices
Mar. 14, 2019 - Draft agenda for March 22, 2019 meeting with Bullis MV
Mar.19, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding request for clarification regarding requirements for admissions practices
Mar. 19, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding California Public Records Request
Mar. 21, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding Santa Clara County Office of Education Meeting
Mar. 21, 2019 - Response from Bullis regarding assertion of charter denial
Mar. 28, 2019 - Response from Bullis legal counsel regarding public records act request
Apr. 4, 2019 - Response from Bullis regarding draft Notice of Violation
Apr. 5, 2019 - Letter to Bullis regarding Notice of Violation Apr. 5, 2019 - Exhibits attached to Notice of Violation

March 27, 2019

From the SuperintendentDr. Ayindé Rudolph: Bullis Mountain View update

We were shocked that Bullis Mountain View (BMV) Charter School sent a message to the community on Thursday that they do not plan to open on MVWSD’s campus in the fall. We had been preparing for an all-day meeting, which both parties agreed to, that was scheduled for the next day (see agenda here) to work on the items needed to ensure that BMV would be ready to open in August.

This announcement is a continuation of BMV’s pattern of not working with our District that started this fall with BMV’s announcement to the community that it would open, without engaging residents or informing MVWSD of their intentions. While we had concerns about BMV’s process that we expressed to them, we moved beyond whether BMV would open here. It was about whether BMV would be ready to open on day one for our students.

Some points of clarification:

BMV’s charter petition was approved: The MVWSD Board of Trustees approved BMV’s charter petition in December, and the District offered BMV facilities this spring as part of the Prop 39 process. BMV, after a public vote by the Board of Trustees, proceeded with this approval for three months to recruit students, plan for a public lottery, evaluate District-offered facilities, apply for special education support through the El Dorado SELPA, advertise teaching positions and apply for a County-District identification code from the state.

MVWSD will hold BMV accountable to reasonable requirements: None of the requests included in the petition as approved by MVWSD are unlawful or unreasonable. Instead, they were designed to ensure BMV would meet its commitment to serve a diverse student population and provide for academic achievement.

* BMV included free and reduced lunch program students in its petition as a group that would receive priority enrollment. By prioritizing these groups already provided for in BMV’s enrollment priorities, MVWSD is holding BMV to their petition and their stated desire to serve English Language Learners and students with low socio-economic status.

* In January, we were disappointed to learn that BMV was continuing to recruit students with enrollment priorities that are inconsistent with their charter petition, BMV’s public statements and MVWSD’s approval. MVWSD made clear to BMV (Jan. 23) that this approach was not acceptable.

* BMV stated in their petition that they would make academic progress with student groups; progress that exceeds MVWSD. To measure that, BMV must utilize the same standards-based assessments (not specific to any curriculum) and reading tests used by the District each school year and on the same schedule. MVWSD has not evaluated BMV’s curriculum or asked BMV to make curriculum changes.

Oversight is our responsibility: As the authorizer, it is MVWSD’s responsibility to ensure BMV opens on time and ready for our students. We continually attempted to learn more about BMV’s enrollment numbers, process and plans through several requests (March 1) and asked on Feb. 15 for them to attend the Mar. 7 Board meeting with this information, which they did not provide. BMV has refused all efforts to obtain information on their process and progress toward opening. They have rejected any oversight from MVWSD. Public education does not provide for charters operating as private schools.

We were hoping that last week’s meeting would have been the first of many positive steps to ensure Bullis could move forward to open a quality school for all of our students this fall. We are disappointed that the families who were counting on attending Bullis in the fall will not have that option.

- Dr. Ayindé Rudolph

March 22, 2019 - MVWSD and Bullis Mountain View (BMV) organizational meeting

This is a not a public meeting, but we’ll communicate next steps after. It is our hope that this is the first of a series of meetings to help ensure BMV is on track for opening in August.  Agenda

March 12, 2019
Bullis Mountain View update

We are planning from a facilities, procedural and financial standpoint for 168 students to attend Bullis Mountain View’s charter school in the fall on our campus, as requested in Bullis’ petition approved by the Board of Trustees. As the authorizer, MVWSD has a vested interest in Bullis being successful in Mountain View. We want Mountain View students who attend BMV to be successful. 

Bullis is required to send the District, as the authorizing agency, information about its recruitment and enrollment.  Frankly, getting this information from Bullis has been difficult. We are encouraged by SB 126, a new law requiring California’s 1,300-plus charter schools to follow the same laws governing open meetings, public records and conflicts of interest that apply to school districts. 

Representatives from Bullis Mountain View were asked to attend the March 7 Board of Trustees meeting to present information regarding BMV’s plans for opening its school, the status of its governing board and a detailed explanation of its admission, lottery and enrollment procedures. BMV attended the meeting, but did not share this information. They also have not responded substantially to the District’s public records request for enrollment information. 

Timeline of recent communication with Bullis:


Jan 23:
* MVWSD requested from Bullis a detailed description of its application, enrollment, and lottery processes, as well as a schedule of Bullis board meetings.
* MVWSD clarified that the top BMV enrollment priority in the charter approval by Board of Trustees was preference for pupils qualifying for Free and Reduced-Price Meals (“FRPM”) who reside within the attendance boundaries of Castro, Theuerkauf, and Monta Loma Elementary Schools.

Feb. 1: MVWSD response to Bullis’ Prop 39 facilities request.

Feb. 2: BMV sent a public records request for MVWSD enrollment and attendance data.

Feb. 12: MVWSD acknowledged the Bullis public records request, and will provide records by March 15.

Feb. 15: 
* As a result of not receiving the information requested on Jan. 23, MVWSD submitted a public records request for communications between Bullis personnel and Bullis board members;
* MVWSD requested a presentation from Bullis at the March 7 Board meeting to include information on enrollment and lottery processes;
* MVWSD reminded BMV that enrollment preference is for pupils qualifying for Free and Reduced-Price Meals (“FRPM”) who reside within the attendance boundaries of Castro, Theuerkauf, and Monta Loma Elementary Schools, as required by the charter, and their recruitment materials should be updated accordingly. 

Feb. 25: Bullis acknowledged the District’s records requests, but denied the majority of the requests due to the assertion that the Bullis name was incorrect and therefore they don’t have records reflective of the request.

March 1: 
* Bullis acknowledged the District’s Prop 39 offer of facilities of the current District Office at 1400 Montecito Ave.;
* MVWSD sent a second request to BMV for the March 7 Board meeting presentation as they had not responded to the request sent on February 15;
* MVWSD sent a second request for Bullis to comply with its Feb. 15 request for public records and information on application, enrollment, and lottery processes, as well as a schedule of Board meetings.

March 6: Bullis confirmed its attendance at the March 7 MVWSD Board of Trustees meeting.

Next steps: The District is still waiting for Bullis to confirm a March 22 organizational meeting offered by the District. The District and Bullis are required by June 30 to have a memorandum of understanding in place. MVWSD will work with Bullis to facilitate a fall opening, while holding Bullis to the parameters set in the petition approval.

Jan 25, 2019

Jan. 24 Board meeting recap: Bullis MV location

Bullis MV location: The Board heard about the options available to MVWSD for its preliminary offer of facilities to Bullis MV Charter School for 2019-2020, as required by Prop 39. District staff recommended and the Board supported the offer to BMV the current District Office site (formerly Stevenson Elementary) at 1400 Montecito Ave. This option limits the disruption to neighborhood schools to some sharing of common areas, and it provides each school the ability to adjust to new school boundaries, effective this fall.  Bullis can choose to accept this offer, or not. To view the presentation, click here.



Dec. 21, 2018

From the SuperintendentDr. Ayindé Rudolph

At the Dec. 20 meeting, the MVWSD Board of Trustees approved the Bullis Mountain View (BMV) Charter petition for three years beginning July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2022.

After hearing concerns from the community at the public hearing on Dec. 6, the Board considered whether local oversight of a charter provides a benefit to the District and community. Local oversight would allow the District to hold BMV to its assertions that it can both serve socio-economic disadvantaged students on the west side of Mountain View and exceed the District's academic results for those students.

“We appreciate the community’s research and thoughtful discourse on this subject,” said Dr. Ayindé Rudolph. “We heard their concerns loud and clear. While law favors charters’ approval, the District chose to be the authorizer with local oversight so that our community can help to assure that our students are well-served.”

As the authorizer, MVWSD will set forth expectations through a memorandum of understanding to hold BMV accountable for meeting the outlined goals of its charter.

The District’s expectations of BMV:
* BMV amend its enrollment priorities. Students who are eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Meals (“FRPM”) and who reside within the attendance boundaries of Castro, Theuerkauf, and Monta Loma Elementary Schools and students who are eligible for FRPM and who reside within MVWSD be afforded first and second enrollment preference.
* To address the potential fiscal impacts of the inaccurate estimates, BMV is to revise its budget assumptions to match the District’s demographics (FRPM rate of 42%; English Language Learners rate of 24%; and Socio-Economic Disadvantaged rate of 35%.).
* To effectively compare academic performance to measure the expectation that BMV exceed Districtwide assessment results for all pupil subgroups by not less than five (5) percent, BMV should utilize the same benchmark and reading assessments used by the District each school year, conduct such assessments on a trimester basis, and meet assessment reporting deadlines as designated by the District.
* The majority of BMV’s Board members should reside within the boundaries of Mountain View and/or the Mountain View Whisman School District, to address potential conflicts of interest, governance concerns, and ensure local participation in BMV’s governance.

The next step is that MVWSD continues its facility analysis in preparation for its initial offering of facilities to Bullis by February 1, 2019, as specified in Proposition 39.

To view the December 20, 2018 Board meeting presentation and materials, click here.

 

Nov. 28, 2018

From the SuperintendentDr. Ayindé Rudolph

Asking the hard questions about Bullis Charter School ...

Over the past four years, I have been fortunate to have a front seat to various topics that have impacted education in Mountain View.

What I know, and appreciate about Mountain View is that we are a diverse community with many viewpoints, but there’s one thing we all agree on.  We all share a common belief that great schools are critical to our community. We all agree that every one of our students, especially students who historically have not performed as well as their peers (minorities, socioeconomic disadvantaged, English language learners, and Special Education) deserve the best public education that we can offer.  We all agree, as a community, that education is great equalizer for all and that we must fiercely defend it. This desire is evidenced by the work throughout our community; in meetings of City Council, School Board, PTAs and School Site Councils, the Mountain View Educational Foundation, and debates that take place in online forums.

As you know, Bullis Charter School has requested to open a charter school in our district this fall, and we are working hard to determine the best way to work with them on this request. As such, we want to understand and ask the obvious questions, but also step back and say “what questions are we not asking?”

The obvious questions include: What is Bullis’ success with socio-economically disadvantaged students and with English language learners? How is Bullis meeting the needs of special education students? What happens if Bullis is placed at a MVWSD neighborhood school and Bullis continues to grow? How will the Bullis lottery be implemented?

But then there are also the less obvious questions and the ones I'm getting from parents that are also important to understand and openly discuss. For example, as families from neighborhood schools move to Bullis, what impact will that have on the students in our neighborhood schools? We believe a healthy discussion on Bullis is something we should be able to have freely without it becoming personal.

My charge from the Board of Trustees is that, regardless of the outcome, we must thoroughly explore and answer all the questions about a new charter school so that people can make informed decisions. And then after laying out all of the facts we, as a community, make an informed decision that we believe will benefit all of the students in our community.

This standard of having all of the information and seeing both sides of the coin is the same I use for making decisions about our programs, decisions about my own children, and should be the same standards that we use for the opening of Bullis Mountain View. We will continue to ask these questions for the benefit for our students.

We recognize that no one entity has an answer or solution for everything. The fact is that we can have more than one educational system in our community that prepares our students for high school, college and adult life. Charter schools, public schools, private and parochial schools all have a place in society. I firmly believe this as someone who’s been a principal at every level - countywide magnet, art magnet and STEM focused, and of course traditional public schools as well as a charter school. To be clear, I am not anti-charter-school. I am unabashedly pro American dream for all of our students.

As I have stated to parents, ultimately the decisions that you make for your kids are personal and I respect those. I want you to be able to look through the ongoing discourse and find the answers that you seek so you can make the right choice for you and your children.

- Dr. Ayindé Rudolph


From the Superintendent:

Dr. Ayindé Rudolph

Nov 6, 2018



Bullis Charter School update: Answering questions about enrollment

A question came up at last week’s Board of Trustees meeting about how the District’s enrollment process this spring might differ with the introduction of a charter school opening this fall.

In short, we don’t know yet. Until Bullis provides its timeline for enrollment we are in limbo and it is difficult for us to plan for staffing and facilities for next year, especially at our impacted schools.  Once Bullis communicates the timeline, we can be more specific about how our charter transfer process would work.

There are two processes happening simultaneously.

  1. Bullis has submitted a Prop. 39 facilities request to house 168 students in the fall on one of our campuses. For planning purposes, we are using the numbers of students (144) that Bullis listed on the intent to enroll forms.  Because Bullis has not provided us with their timeline for enrollment but have stated that they plan to enroll 168 students in their first year, we have to assume for Prop. 39 facilities planning purposes, that all of these 144 students will be accepted at Bullis. Thus, for this planning, we will not be counting students as both enrolled in MVWSD and Bullis.
  2. The District’s open enrollment period begins Jan. 7, and parents will confirm their intent to enroll at this time. No student will be disenrolled from MVWSD because they intend to enroll elsewhere. However, it is important that parents understand as they are considering their options for next year that placement in neighborhood schools and choice schools has always been subject to our enrollment numbers, and our first commitment is to our currently enrolled students. If parents disenroll their student to go outside MVWSD, it is likely they will not be able to re-enter their MVWSD choice or impacted neighborhood school in the same school year. They'd have to wait until the next year's open enrollment process. This is not a new approach.

 

As I have stated to parents, ultimately the educational decisions that you make for your kids are personal and I respect those, regardless of the the impact on the District. It’s important that you have all the information you need to make an informed decision. I will do my part to continue to communicate about this process as it unfolds.

Nov. 1, 2018

Bullis Charter School update: Petition to be received today

Tonight, the Board will officially receive a petition from Bullis Charter School requesting that a charter be granted for a school in the district in 2019-20. I will be presenting the process and timeline during the Board of Trustees meeting today at 7 p.m. in the Graham MUR.

To preview my presentation about the timeline and process, click here.

 

Timeline (set by law):

  • December 6, 5:30 pm in the Graham MUR : Public Hearing about the charter petition. It’s expected that representatives from Bullis will speak. There will also be time for members of the public to weigh in on the petition. Please plan to attend this meeting.
  • December 20 or January 10: Board will vote whether to authorize the charter.

 

Oct. 18, 2018

Bullis Charter School update: Petition has been received

MVWSD has received the Bullis Charter School’s petition to open a school in the District in 2019-20.

To view the Bullis petition, click here.

The process for charter petition review by the Board includes a public hearing and a decision by the Board. These actions are held at separate board meetings. There is a timeline set by law – the public hearing is to be held within 30 days of the Board’s receipt of the charter petition and the decision on whether to grant or deny the charter petition is to be made within 60 days of the Board’s receipt. Receipt by the Board means that the charter petition is put on a Board meeting agenda and the charter petition documents are then received by the Board at that meeting. Once the Board has officially received the charter petition, the 30/60 day timeline is triggered.

 

It is anticipated that the Board of Trustees will formally receive the petition at the Board’s November 1 meeting, starting the timing for the 30 days in which a public hearing is required.


MVWSD would be required by law to give a charter school classroom and office space, as well as share multi-use room and play areas. These requirements would have a significant impact on a school’s campus. To read more about the impact a charter school could have on MVWSD, click here.
 

From the Superintendent:

Dr. Ayindé Rudolph

Bullis Charter School update: Presentation

Last week, I reported on the October 3 informational meeting District staff had with Bullis Charter School about the recent announcement of its intent to open an additional school in Mountain View in 2019-20 that would serve low-income students and the direct questions we asked about how Bullis would serve all students.

 

Here is a:
A link to the presentation given to MVWSD by Bullis, Oct. 3, 2018
link to the Bullis petition to MVWSD.

Any charter school in MVWSD will reduce resources allocated for MVWSD, which will have an impact on our schools.

 

Facilities: Pending final placement, MVWSD would be required by law to give a charter school classroom and office space, as well as share multi-use room and play areas. These requirements would have a significant impact on a school’s campus.

 

Staffing: A charter school opening with 168 students, and a projected growth to 320 students after 3 years, could mean a reduction in force of seven classroom teachers from MVWSD in the first year. This staffing reduction could also affect, central office staff, ancillary support services (maintenance, custodial, grounds), School Engagement Facilitators,  RTI teachers, at-risk supervisors, coaches and other positions which are determined by a ratio/student numbers.

 

Budget: Since public funding would go to the charter school for the MVWSD students who are enrolled there, a charter school opening with 168 students could mean a reduction of approximately $2 million from the District's budget, not including federal and state program funding. While some savings would be realized through a reduction in staffing, other costs carry forward such as custodians, cafeteria servers, school nurses and utilities and maintenance.

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