The CUSD Trustees on Wednesday approved the expansion of Oxford Preparatory Academy (OPA) at Barcelona Hills Elementary campus near Los Alisos and Trabuco. The decision came on a 6-1 decision despite an opposite recommendation from CUSD staff.
The campus was shared by the two schools this year, but the action means the Barcelona students will be transferred to other Mission Viejo schools next year – Castille and Reilly.
OPA released the following statement:
While we all celebrate the bright future of our program that was secured tonight, we are also keenly aware of the devastating news that was delivered to our neighbors at Barcelona Hills. We all must be mindful of this in the coming months, and show respect, consideration and sensitivity to their community. Thank you for your understanding and compassion.
Oxford is expected to increase its enrollment from about 450 to 772 students next year. It says it has over 1,600 names on a waiting list.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
An essential to our freedoms, and our way of life is a GOOD public education –accessible to ALL. The demise of public, and unfettered education is a loss to ALL of society.
I hope this is a message to the various SPECIAL INTERESTS that have lead to this situation. Those that do not pay attention to the needs of their constituents will always fail !!
Charter schools are public education. OPA is accessible and open to all, Admittance was done by public lottery. No one was denied due to socioeconomic standing, race, religion, everybody had an equal chance to get in.
I’m assuming you are referring to the Teachers Union when you talk of SPECIAL INTEREST, in that case you are correct, they are the reason we have this situation. The voters voted in Prop 39 because we were tired of a school system that was being run by the unions. The state legislature and local school boards have listened to their constituents, they followed the law voted on by them. The district will be better for it.
Totally sucks for the parents who bought their homes to be close to a school. In this case, a neighborhood school totally going Charter, I believe the children whose school was their “home school” should be given first choice to deceide if they want to attend or not. Because more than likely, the parents based part of their decision to buy their house on the fact that a school was close by.
And just another reason that I am SO GLAD we did not buy our house in CUSD!
I am hoping that OPA will be sensitive and compassionate to the displaced students of Barcelona Hills by allowing them a choice to integrate into their community. The devastating news issued by the CUSD Trustees and the mishandling of this situation from the beginning has caused much heartache among parents, students, friends and neighbors. A kind gesture may be needed at this time, especially since there is so much divisiveness in our nation, state, and local community. I hope OPA’s actions will mirror their words.
Better yet, make all schools private. That way parents will have numerous choices, and competition will work to make better education available at lower prices.
As Dr. and Mrs. Friedman pointed out, quality education was available to people of all classes before the government take over of schools.
Beside the unions and the politican correctness (eg. mandatory teaching of grade school kids on the history of homosexuals!), the so-called “prevailing” wages make all construction work on public schools twice as costly as the exact same work done by the exact same workers on private school projects.
Re Stephen: Private is ok and my children were in a private up to grade 3, but if a voucher system was put in place, the good public and private schools would be easy to spot. Follow the money.
In this short article (that is not even crediting a journalist name) the Dispatch contributes to the disdain I have for the media in our country.
Lets start with your article title that states that OPA Charter displaced Barcelona.
Why hook the reader with a lie?
What makes this author think that OPA has the authority to displace Barcelona?
Did your writer attend the CUSD board meeting?
Where in your article do you mention that there were 2 votes in the meeting? One to expand OPA attendance based upon demand and facilites space that must be provided upon voter approved prop 39 (voted 6-1 in favor). The second unfortunate vote came shortly after to close Barcelona, proposed by the board and approved 7-0.
Your spin places the blame on OPA. It does nothing to help the already difficult and emotional situation at this campus but place a deeper wedge between the parties.
To the uninformed reader, of course they are going to think this is not fair for OPA to displace Barcelona.
This irresponsible and incomplete journalism is dispicable and shameful. Get all the facts in front of your readers.
To the Barcelona parents and staff, I feel for the closing or your school and the decisions coming your way to find another school for your children. As an OPA parent, we never had this in our vision, nor do we feel any sense of satisfaction in the closing of another school.
Best wishes in the coming months.
[Editor’s Note: When a glass is filled with water, the water “displaces” the air regardless who turned on the water. The Dispatch correctly identified the CUSD Board as the authority and decision maker, not OPA, although Oxford made the proposal. It’s an emotional issue, and both sides want sympathetic coverage. A word search for “Oxford” (right sidebar) will reveal all articles by the Dispatch on this subject for a broader picture. Identity of the Dispatch author/editor/publisher is appropriately found on the “About the Dispatch” page.
Vouchers would be a good first step, but they would not cut out the high cost factors in the the public schools. Therefore, why bother with the intermediate step of vouchers. Instead, just make all schools private.
Barcelona Hills closed due the complete take-over of OPA. Since this is all “about the kids” as Sue Roche mentions, let us discuss what OPA kids have learned from their parents excercising their Prop 39 rights. They have clearly learned that their parents effectively shut down a school and kicked “little Johnny” out, so their precious “little Suzie” can be there instead. This is sad but true.
The ideal of self-sacrifice for the greater good is fleeting before us. As a child, I learned this ideal at a very young age. I wasn’t allowed to bring the cookies out unless there was enough for all. In SOC, the land of the “haves”, where it is quite challenging to get a poor education, the OPA children are learning the exact opposite. When great public schools like Barcelona Hills, Castille, Ladera Ranch, Canyon Vista, etc., are not good enough for “little Suzie” because “little Suzie” learns “differently”, and one of these schools could be taken over by “little Suzie’s” parents, so “little Suzie” could get a “better” education, we are witnessing self-entitlement prevail and risking the loss of integrity and moral and ethical fortidude in the way we Americans live our lives outside of the home.
Trustee President, Dr. Gary Pritchard, said it best while speaking to Sue Roche about OPA not wanting to follow the Brown Act and hold monthly public board meetings , ….”You hold all the power of the law in this room…….You have submitted 1667 [intent to enrolls]……Barcelona Hills isn’t even big enough for you. You need the space of a high school like San Clemente High or Dana Hills High…… CUSD parents should know what your plans are.” You see, Prop 39 gives her that power. CUSD’s hands are tied. Your neighborhood school could be next!
BTW….Let us explore what learning “differently” looks like at OPA: Tae Kwon Do for PE; school closes early, so parents can drive their kids to Chino to support a flag football game; becoming “fluent” during class time in five languages (including English) in 8 years without immersion in 4 out 5; 13-year-olds going to England and France (accompanied by Sue Roche) instead of D.C. to visit our nation’s national monuments despite the fact that US history is taught in 8th grade; holding rallies at school for political “wins” at board meetings; 12-year-olds going to Costa Rica; a math lesson taught outdoors; teachers are self-proclaimed “professors”; 4 OPA parents announce that they are self-proclaimed liaisons between their area Trustee member and their area’s constituents, and then tell the board members that they look to a favorable vote in OPA’s direction and will support board members and cadidates who do so.
Meanwhile, OPA’s board of directors are not even voted in office by the taxpayers; the first grade class theme is Harvard or Yale instead of “The Little Stars”; a fourth grader paints his room in Oxford teal; an OPA mom discussing in the OC Register how home-schooling translates to “following in love with my daughter all over again” and then depicts a photograph of mom and daughter out to lunch (literally), and the list goes on and on……. Quite frankly these are “cookies” I wouldn’t want my own children to induldge in having. But then again this is all about “choice”. The OPA “choice”.
I live near Barcelona Hills. My neighborhood elementary school is now going to be closed. The neighborhood school my kids went to, the neighborhood school we can walk to, the neighborhood school that has served as community space for this neighborhood, etc… will all be gone. Instead we have parents driving in from all over bringing traffic, congestion, and a lack of small town feel to our community. If OPA really feels bad, WHY DON’T THEY OFFER ALL THE BARCELONA STUDENTS PRIORITY. IT WAS THEIR SCHOOL FIRST!!!
Irene Cervantes perfectly described my issues with OPA. Thank you. The prevalent statements like “my kid deserves the best at the expense of everybody else” perpetuates the self centered all about me attitude so prevalent in our society. I am so annoyed with hearing “well my kids just deserve to learn differently than your kids.”
I’m fairly positive that OPA does not have the latitude to offer Barcelona students priority in being admitted. Being a public charter school, all students in the district are required by law to have an equal chance at admittance, for this type of public charter school. A lottery for all those interested within the district certainly has a measure of fairness to it. I don’t know anybody that is saying that what has played out at Barcelona is fair. However, that does not change the fact that events unfolded that were going to leave many unhappy, no matter what decision was made.
There is a lot that has occurred in CUSD that is not viewed as fair, by many. As far as a local school goes, I didn’t consider that fair when CUSD re-boundaried the northern part of Mission Viejo out of THS to CVHS, that is several miles further away. They did this in the same breath that they boundaried areas of SJC to CVHS instead of SJHHS, out of consideration for those students because it was closer to where they live.
@Bryan: If admittance is based on a lottery, and a student cannot be turned away based on socioeconomic standing, please explain the following: Chino OPA site: 0% socioeconomically disadvantaged. Their closest neighboring school, Walnut Elementary: 84% socioeconomically disadvantaged (enter sound of crickets).
Ref Mark’s comments: If you didn’t have in your vision the closing of a neighborhood school for your OPA school, then what did you expect? All schools in CUSD are currently occupied by CUSD students. Excercising your Prop 39 rights manifests the shut down of a neighborhood school. The site itself is arbitrary. Perhaps you thought that the OPA adminstrative staff such as Sue Roche and company might forfeit a portion of their inflated salaries to lease a private site? (me no think so)
Put this in your hooka and smoke it: Going non-union doesn’t necessarily translate to a better use of your tax-dollars, better teachers, and better programs than what CUSD has to offer already. OPA’s orginal “headmaster” at the SOC site quit within 4 days of the school’s opening. Two other teachers quit within 3 months, and lots of families transferred their children back into CUSD schools upon the end of their first trimester. In addition, over 30% of the OPA staff do not directly teach children.
It is also not uncommon for charter schools to hire staff members who have been asked to leave their previous districts. I wonder if this hiring situation applies to OPA?
No deje de beber el Kool-Aid.
All an all it appears that the CUSD Board is exacting retribution on all! (We will be dammed if OPA will take over our CUSD school!)
Once again SPECIAL INTEREST are much more important than your, my children.
OPA and Barcelona Hills Elementary School could have co-existed. It really could have worked if there was positive leadership from the beginning by CUSD and it’s administrators. It was a shame that it did not and only the adults are to blame.
My children were happy to see their friends from Barcelona Hills every day and the staff members who made them feel comfortable. They looked forward to receiving and giving hugs. Our family is sad that BH will have to close as we did not choose to leave BH because of any one bad incident to our three children who attended for four years.
We chose OPA and to become involved for these reasons. No unions, teachers can be easily hired and fired. The teachers have to be innovative with their teaching styles and reach out to all the childrens learning abilities. The teachers are required to be a part of an extracurricular activity or serve on some committee to promote school spirit and learning. There is a larger opportunity for middle school children be involved in ASB, sports, and cheerleading; becoming the big fish in a little pond. There are uniforms and a slowing down of children growing up too quickly. There are no combination classes and over crowding. Foreign language, science lab, performing arts and music are offered to all children from K-8. “Basic scores” on the STAR tests are not satisfactory. It is the teachers and parents duty to help that child become “proficient” with the assistance of after school tutoring at no expense to the parent or school. If the admininstration needs something new like lunch tables or something needs a repair there is no bureaucracy to stop them from addressing the need. And finally, all parents are required to participate by giving volunter hours. This formula for success equals an API score of 957 in Oxford’s first year surpassing any school in CUSD.
President Pritchard should not be surprised that over 1600 students in CUSD had a meaningful interest in having this choice available to them, and if it was a fit for them, these students could fill a school the size of a high school. As the vote indicated back in March of 2011 and was stated, CUSD has not done a good job in marketing themselves. Clearly, there is a need for school choice. If CUSD were honest and straight forward from the beginning with the community in Mission Viejo, then maybe this year would have gone a lot smoother.
Best to you Barcelona Hills, you can be assured that the former parents of students now at OPA will respect your legacy.
Regarding Jesus’s number manipulation, he has -0%- proof that any of the 84% economically challenged students’ parents ever applied to go to the charter school. I am not for or against either side of this issue, but I am always against blatant falsification of statistics. (somewhere I hear a cricket playing a tiny violin while he spins numbers)
Is Jesus saying that the lottery was fixed? I’m sure before stating something like this, there would have sort sort of proof. Right? (Crickets) To do so otherwise would be irresponsible? The lottery is directly overseen by District officials and every name that entered into the lottery has to be accounted for and if not then the Charter can get into a huge legal mess. Both Lotteries went off without a hitch. i.e. all names were accounted for and all families that put their name in got a card with either acceptance or a waiting list number. The only people excluded were the ones that failed to enter the lottery.
Bryan is trying to convince me that the Chino community was fully aware of what was happening to their school and that everyone could have participated, but they ALL chose not to?
How about this – Sue Roche specifically recruited people from Walnut to become the first wave. The people that were recruited were both of means and very proficient students.
There was no community outreach until after the fact. There were no signs in Spanish indicating what the school was or how to participate in the lottery. The school doesn’t offer reduced lunches and the parents have to “volunteer” for fund raising etc.
If you want to participate in the “Don’t send my kids to school with Poor Mexicans” program…be my guest. All of this will play out…Sue Roche got her first taste in Oceanside…more to come.
One of the problems with public education is the huge influence unions have on public education and the costs & consequences associated with that influence. The California Teachers Assoiction is taking direct aim at charter schools, and has supported legislation that if passed, would allow school districts to get rid of every charter school.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/31/4226828/assembly-oks-bill-to-weigh-charter.html
Assembly OKs bill to weigh charter schools’ impact
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By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 4A
The Assembly passed union-backed legislation Monday that would allow charter school petitions to be rejected if they negatively affect a school district’s finances.
The measure, Assembly Bill 1172, was approved by the bare minimum number of votes required, 41-27, and now heads to the Senate. No Republicans supported the bill by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia.
Supporters, including the California Teachers Association, contend that the bill is needed to help schools avoid fiscal insolvency, according to an Assembly analysis of AB 1172.
Opponents argue that the bill is too broadly written and that most school districts could claim a negative financial impact under it, the analysis said.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/31/4226828/assembly-oks-bill-to-weigh-charter.html#storylink=cpy
While asserting that charter schools have negative impacts on school districts, teachers unions have no problems with legislations that financially benefits its members.
Career Bonus*
Any teacher who will have taught 30 or more years by January 1, 2011 will qualify for an additional cash supplement to his or her retirement income as follows:
30 years of service: $200 per month
31 years of service: $300 per month
32 or more years of service: $400 per month
This will be payable for life, as an addition to the regular pension. This allowance will increase by the current STRS COLA.
* This is in addition to the 0.2% career factor, up to a maximum age factor of 2.4% currently on the books.
In reality, public education is a monopoly controlled by special interests that fears competition in the form of school choice as illustrated above.
A good charter is always looking for the best students with the most engaged, capable parents. There is no doubt this academy is serving an advantaged student population, rather than the general public. You can call it what you want, but it is not public in the egaliterian sense. As for the Friedman’s model, that’s called “disaster capitalism”, and deserves to be in the same category as slavery. A certain arrogance which we can do without.
It’s interesting to see others mock and exaggerate Oxford’s curriculum without stopping to realize that public schools have had to gut or eliminate basic programs for art, music, science, sports, etc. in order to fund the already-bloated pensions of the teachers’ unions that are strangling our state.
Once you’ve seen how far ADA money can go without the bureaucracy and politics that are killing good public education, charter schools become inherently more appealing. That doesn’t make me an elitist, that makes me a realist. Contrary to what the teachers’ unions would like you to believe, ADA (Average Daily Attendance) money belongs to every parent—not the unions or even the school district—and we can now choose how it’s invested in our children.
Oxford did not ask to share a campus with Barcelona Hills, and it didn’t ask to “take over” the campus. It’s what the district gave the school, as stated explicitly by the trustees. I don’t like the decision and I don’t like to see families being moved around. To me, there is no winner in this solution. I have nothing but compassion for the Barcelona Hills families and I wish the situation were different.
You make an interesting point there, Jose. What were they thinking only providing information in English? Sheesh, you would think it was the national language the way they keep using it in our schools. So unfair. I am sure that if you go to England or Australia they will have everything published in Spanish.
What Jesus fails to mention is there are more Hispanic students at the Chino campus than any other single subgroup. To me that sounds like they reached out to the Hispanic community.
Jesus should know that the Oxford Preparatory Academy in Chino was provided a facility by that school district, that was closed and vacant. Rather than having a vacant school in their neighborhood and everything that goes with that, the community was recipient to having the best performing school in the district in their community. Children in that neighborhood obtained the opportunity to attend a closer school to where they live via a lottery. This was to their benefit. As Jesus implies that OPA did something to their neighborhood school, they did not, they actually gave them one back. See for yourself: http://www.insidesocal.com/educationnow/2010/06/oxford-prep-to-open-at-former.html
OPA does actually select their students. Via a very simple method. Their Independent Study program. There is no lottery to get into the IS and there is a capacity for 100. A student applies and is selected…and of course, the selection is largely “cherry picking”. Then, these students are given priority placement into the on-campus student body the following year and bypass the lottery. Nifty, eh? In my conversation with Antoinette Briskey, the administrator, she told me that it was the only way to be guaranteed placement and that the school chose who they wanted in IS. Also, IS students get priority placement, followed by siblings of existing students, and should there be any room left in the classrooms – well, you then have the random lottery. But, good luck getting into the school in 2012, they have 100 IS students ahead of you and I can tell you, there are enough siblings to fill in the remainder spots. The only lottery openings will be for incoming Kindergarten.
Smart thinking on the part of the school. They got around the system and yes, they do choose who they want attending there.
Wow! All I can say is this is a reflection of the current public school situation and the result of yet another failing government-run institution. But quite a crucial one.
Ultimately, the customers aren’t even the parents. They are the students who will eventually hold the very positions which are locking heads over this issue right now. What kind of example are we giving them?
I see valid issues on both sides and since we are all venting our opinions, I will say to Jesus that when my family came here from Brazil, there weren’t any school papers or signs in Portuguese (and there still aren’t).
I am very grateful for that, because it forced us all to learn the language. Today I work as an interpreter, and I do not believe that would be the case had I been allowed to continue speaking Portuguese everywhere I went.
When we came to this country, we understood that it meant adopting the language, learning the customs and generally assimilating into this society, for this is where we CHOSE to make our new home. We understood that while people were welcoming, no one had sent an engraved invitation nor did anyone begin learning Portuguese in anticipation of our arrival.
That being said, we also understand that the school system as it is currently run is irreparably broken in many places. No Child Left Behind is an oxymoron, programs are being cut at an alarming rate and unless your child plays football, swims or runs there are no sports they can even get PE credit for. We lost 20-1 years ago, parents have become fund-raisers extraordinaire and the union administrators are taking home ridiculous pensions while teachers lose their jobs. Meanwhile, there are no supplies at school (even paper and pencils!) and teachers are spending their own money to buy classroom supplies.
What is the answer? Remove government from the school system? Vouchers?
Something needs to be done that will remove California from being close to last place in the nation in education! Something that will be available to ALL, not just a select wealthy minority.
What about converting the now vacant former UNISYS building to a school (with boundary adjustent as needed)? What about all of the vacant space in the CUSD headquarters?
When faced with serious questions about the ethical nature of OPA’s existence, OPA supporters seem to reduce all arguments to the following retorts:
a. It’s not their fault Barcelona is closing.
This dictates a complete disregard for the relationship between cause and effect. Cause: OPA parents exercising their Prop 39 rights. Effect: The shut down of a neighborhood school.
b. It’s all the teachers’ and their union’s fault. Apparently, unions are responsible for ruining public education. They claim unions are the cause of the elimination of art, music, and sports’ programs.
Unfortunately for OPA supporters, these claims are not pertinent in CUSD. These programs are alive and well. At sometime OPA’s folks should visit a CUSD high school’s orchestral performance. Beautiful! Perhaps a visit to a high school track after school to witness the vitality of youth as the track, football, and soccer teams practice. Academically, CUSD schools are incredibly high performing.
I’m always amazed by the anti-public school rhetoric of today. Most people claim that academics are far more challenging today then when we were children. I see my own kids learning far more advanced material at an earlier age than I did. Schools now have 80 valedictorians rather than 1 or 2. The teachers of today are far more educated on so many more different levels than the teachers of yesterday.
I wouldn’t doubt that many of you OPA folks support big business. Big business certainly influences politics. Why then shouldn’t the working man have a voice as well? The fact is that as long as both entitities have a voice, there is some kind of debate going on during political decision-making, and for that I am grateful.
I must say that I find it interesting that OPA people write to elicit anti-union support while at the same time refuse to hold themselves accountable for the negative consequences of their political behavior (the shut down of a neighborhood school). These are the exact type of people I don’t want influencing policy change. You are the same people that purchase expensive uniforms (not your Walmart specials for certain), pay to send your kids to Europe and Costa Rica, support the use of public money to segregate children, send adminstrators to Europe and China, and pay for the inflated salaries of 30% + adminstrative positions, but REFUSE to pay a teacher to tutor your kids. I’m going to pass on endorsing your rhetoric. I never did like the flavor of Kool-Aid….too much sugar is needed to mask the bitter taste.
Questions: Will the teachers at OPA be union? What will be a starting salary? Will there be medical benefits? Will there be a retirement plan? Will salary increases be based on merit? Will there be tenure? Will the teachers be required to have a degree in education or just a certificate?
Answers: Union has a right under the law to try and unionize the teachers at OPA (and I am sure that they will try). Salary should be between an employer and an employee as well as the benefits. Having those items collectively bargained is the one of the reasons we are in the state we are in. Public sector pensions are crippling us. Shouldn’t all salary increases be based on merit? I believe there is no Tenure, that is reserved for Unions to protect its members.
Thank you. Yes, salary should be between employer/ee, but usually a company will advertise what benefits they will be offering as an enticement. Glad to hear that OPA will be a non-union company.