“The Riverside County board of education granted Imagine Schools a countywide charter Wednesday, but it can’t expand beyond a first school in the Coachella Valley until it gets board approval.
About three dozen Coachella-area residents applauded the vote.
The board voted 4-2 for a three-year trial charter on a motion by trustee Lynne Craig, who said she wants to see evidence that it provides a better education than students would otherwise receive in public schools there.
Trustee Vick Knight abstained and trustee Lisa Conyer and board president Betty Gibbel voted against the charter.
The Coachella families had gotten up at 5 a.m. to caravan from Mecca and Thermal to Riverside to support the charter school.
“We need an option for our children,” said Eduardo Guevara, one of the parents. “We want them to receive a better education and we want them to be fully bilingual.”
The charter petition says a second school is planned within Riverside Unified School District. Riverside Deputy Superintendent Mike Fine said Imagine has never approached the district.
Imagine Schools Riverside County proposes to educate 240 students in kindergarten and first grade in a dual language immersion program the first year at a site within Coachella Valley Unified School District. It would add a grade level each year through eighth grade.
The charter school petition says it would grow to 2,490 students by the time a fifth campus is open.
Dual language immersion programs are designed to teach students to be bilingual, biliterate and bicultural. Students who begin the program in kindergarten usually end up with higher test scores.
Riverside offers dual immersion and plans to expand its program. Dual immersion is not offered in all districts the petition lists for future schools — Alvord, Jurupa, Moreno Valley, San Jacinto, Perris and Val Verde.
Craig pressed Imagine representatives on expectations for third-graders’ literacy.
Nationally, 73 percent of students come to Imagine schools performing below grade level academically, said Monte Lange, Imagine Schools’ regional director. The schools stress students’ improvement, giving standardized tests in the fall and again in the spring, he said.
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young said support for the charter comes from the Coachella Valley, where the school district had denied the initial charter petition.
Like public schools, charters receive public money for each student, but charters are free of many of the state’s regulations.
Imagine operates 73 schools in 13 states. The home office is in Arlington, Va.”
Article published on June 8, 2011 by The Press Enterprise