Vista school district officials said they plan to "aggressively oppose" an Escondido-based charter school's plan to open a learning center in the city, The North County Times reports.
However it might be too late, employees at the school, Classical Academy, said they’ve already moved into their new facilities and are planning an open house on Jan. 24, according to the school’s director Cameron Curry who spoke to NCT about the issue Thursday.
In a letter dated Jan.11, the Vista Unified School District sent to the charter school, Classical Academy, officials asked its executive director to ensure the school wouldn't open the satellite campus, reports NCT.
The charter school, which plans to offer courses and curriculum for nearly 200 students kindergarten to 12th grade, must operate in the district that sponsors it, said Vista Unified's assistant superintendent of business services, Donna Caperton, who quoted a state law on the matter.
That’s not stopping the charter school from moving ahead though.
An official with the California Department of Education said Friday, that charter schools that offer independent study and home-school-based programs aren't bound by those rules as long as the new facility is a satellite campus and not a brand new school. There are several similar programs in San Diego County that operate facilities outside of their sponsoring districts, reports NCT.
Caperton's Jan. 11 letter to the academy states that if the charter school doesn't agree by Jan. 18 to reverse its plans for a learning center then the district may need to take "additional steps", though there is no word yet on what those steps may be.
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Curry told the NCT he was “dismayed” by the letter, "It's just unfortunate," he said, of the school district's stance. "Vista Unified knows who we are, they know of our success. I have no idea why they're not embracing choice."
The expansion was necessary for the Classical Academy because of rapid growth at the program's three campuses, Curry told the paper.
