[KHTS] – Two school districts, Newhall and Los Angeles Unified, are suing the Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District, claiming its May 13 approval of a charter application for the Albert Einstein Academy for the Letters, Arts and Sciences was illegal.
An AADUSD board member denied the district conducted any violations of the law with respect to its charter school approvals.
A 23-page lawsuit filed Friday lists Newhall School District as the plaintiff and AADUSD and Albert Einstein as co-defendants, alleging AADUSD unlawfully approved Einstein’s charter and plans to usurp the Newhall School District’s constitutional right to local control for its geographic boundaries.
LAUSD officials made a similar claim, also naming Academy of the Arts and Sciences as a co-defendant.
“I think what’s important about this is, is that by locating a charter school in another district’s boundaries, you’re invalidating the process by which the local community participates in the decision of whether there should be a charter school in that community,” said Sue Ann Evans, a partner in Dannis Woliver Kelley, the law firm representing the Newhall School District.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn the approval of Einstein’s charter granted last May and prevent the school from operating a site recently purchased within Newhall School District boundaries.
Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District officials had not yet been served with the lawsuit as of Friday evening.
When reached for comment about the suit, AADUSD board member Ed Porter maintained the charter petition approvals were done legally.
“We’re operating within the legal confines for charters schools set forth by the state,” Porter said.
Recent legislation aimed at confining the area in which a district can charter a school to the district’s geographic boundaries, Senate Bill 1263, doesn’t address the real problem, he said. He called the bill’s effort short-sighted.
“I’m a big believer in what’s customarily offered in public education, and we offer a program second to none, but a lot of parents just don’t want it,” he added.
Forcing parents to attend a school they didn’t want wasn’t in their best interests, Porter said.
In the lawsuit, Newhall School District officials claim AADUSD’s May 13, 2013, approval of Einstein Academy’s charter violated the laws, according to the state’s Education Code.
An attempt to reach an Einstein Academy official late Friday night was unsuccessful.
The suit contends there was improper notification by Einstein Academy officials, and that the school didn’t prove a sufficient need to operate a location outside of AADUSD’s boundaries.
“Acton Agua Dulce left us no choice in this matter. We sent a cease-and-desist letter on May 12, 2014, and waited over two weeks with no response,” said Brian Walters, president of Newhall’s governing board, in a statement. “This could have been easily resolved if AADUSD chose to abide by the intent and letter of the law by keeping the Albert Einstein Academy operating in the district where they were chartered.”
The lawsuit is also part of an effort by the school district to stop Einstein Academy from opening a location at the former Pinecrest School property in Newhall.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a letter from the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which is providing a fiscal crisis management team to address AADUSD budgetary concerns, putting a pause on the district’s recent approval of five additional charter schools.
A May 30 letter from LACOE regarding the stay noted: “Due to the fiscal solvency issues identified in the letters, and with the high probability that the board actions may be inconsistent with the district’s fiscal recovery (including negative impact on cash flows), we are staying the (approvals).” The decision is under review by county education officials.
AADUSD received a negative certification for its budget, which was recently re-affirmed by the county’s superintendent, prompting the oversight team.
Porter said there wasn’t a significant financial gain for the district in the approvals of charters, and his board’s actions fell in line with the purpose of charter law.
“Theres this huge demand for something we’re not offering,” Porter said, adding the board was “offering solutions to parents.”
The Newhall School District already rejected a charter petition from Einstein Academy in 2010, a decision the school did not appeal with LACOE, according to the suit.
“The lawsuit is not an attempt to prevent charter schools in the Newhall School District,” Evans said, “but to insure that local charter schools are authorized in compliance with law and operate in concert with local school districts to the benefit of our local communities.”
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26 Comments
Einstein in trouble again! I think they should follow the rules or give up. Just say’n!!
Geez, why are these places out to get this charter school…I’ve heard nothing but good about it
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Candice De Long
I keep reading the controversy between the established school districts in the SCV while noting that there are no less than 12 private and charter schools in the valley, and have to wonder what is at the root cause of the enmity between the two parties. (Interestingly when you visit the City’s page listing the local schools in the area the AEA is not listed among them.
http://www.santa-clarita.com/index.aspx?page=37 )
Seems to me there is more to the story than what appears in the local press but neither SCVNews or the Signal seems interested in looking deeper at what is becoming an escalating feud.
Me too
What a shame that these school districts are spending millions of tax dollars trying to keep this charter school from operating. They should use the money to better their schools. Charter schools are giving us parents a choice rather than requiring us to send our children to a school that isn’t the best for them. People who make ignorant comments like “they should follow the rules or give up” should be ashamed of themselves. Educate your self on the facts. If you don’t like the charter school then you don’t need to send your kids there. Leave them alone and let the parents decide what’s best for our children.
It is turning public schools on their head.
This is getting ridiculous !!! Newhall School District is grasping at straws. They clearly care more about money than the children in their school district. I’m not sure why they cannot understand that different schools are better for different children. AEA maximum class size is 25 as compared to the 30 something of the Newhall schools starting in 4th grade. Also AEA uses project based learning, which Newhall schools do not. Choice is good for everyone.
Exactly Kimberly. Our children have been going there the entire year and have been getting a great education. The people that voice the most negativity are generally the ones who may be the least educated on all the facts.
Albert Einstein Academy provides a superior education which costs the taxpayers far less than a traditional public school does. However, it does remove millions of dollars from the control of certain agencies (full of antiquated pencil-pusher types) and teachers’ unions. Those groups have had decades to screw-up The educational system and are resentful for being shown up as AEA makes tremendous strides to offer an excellent alternative.
Interesting coincidence possibly is that the city’s page that lists local schools lists all the local private schools except AEA. I know two people with children enrolled at AEA and they both have nothing but praise for the school.
In general it seems there is more to the story to be told that isn’t getting looked at closer by the local press and that is why and how did this particular feud between the local school district and AEA get to running so deep with so much enmity when other charter schools seem to have gotten approved with little to no controversy.
As a parent with kids in AEA, we are extremely satisfied with the education we get. Living in Acton, AEA provides us with an amazing opportunity and option to the horrible elementary school we have.
AEA is an enterprise for ultra helicopter parents to steal public money to create teacup children.
Timothy,
You comment is both offensive and ignorant. Wanting a learning environment that is beneficial for your child is nothing more than what most Americans want. The foundation of our country is to embrace choice and differences in us all. Your name calling is juvenile and not productive to the conversation.
Daniel R. Mortensen they are at it again…
Daniel R. Mortensen they are at it again…
This school needs to be in trouble, so they can be shut down. They are shady, and don’t do what’s best for the kids. They don’t follow thru, they don’t call back, they don’t give a damn.
This is the truth! They don’t give a damn and that’s the reason why the districts are complaining. So many families left AEA and have shared their horrible experiences!
I love my kids’ teachers but I really love that AEA is not union and teachers can be fired for not doing their job…nobody should be safe from firing…it keeps or at least it should keep them honest
I like how the people that are anti AXA live a hour drive away
Hehehe, Aliso Viejo is more than an hour. Do they pay these stooges? I bet someone actually does.
I no longer have children at sulphur springs schools but I can say some of the teachers should have been let go years ago! My 9 year old niece has told me stories of teachers with horrible attitudes..AEI is where I would send my child in a heartbeat..our schools out here need to be revamped and choices should be available for parents at every level of their education. Parents against this Charter either are not able to get their child into a good school or maybe they are one of the many inadequate teachers in our current school districts.using tax dollars to fight charters is both criminal and unfortunate for the community which should be using that money to better our current public school system
I wish it was closer. If love to send my child there.
I’ll tell you what you don’t know if your kids don’t go there. First, the school was supposed to open in Valencia; a couple weeks before school was to start, the parents were informed AEA lost the location the school was supposed to at and the money already spent on it. Let’s talk about the fact that parents weren’t “kept-in-the-loop” that were problems to begin with. Don’t you think they should have been? Then to find out kids would be bussed, at a cost to the parents, to Aqua Dulce? That’s quite a distance from Valencia, agreed? For some parents that was a struggle. What about the day all the parents showed up at the bus pick up location to find there would be no bus because AEA didn’t pay for the service, after the parents had. How many times have parents showed up at the school site at 8:00 AM and had to call the school at 8:20 or later, to get the gates opened? Do I need to go on? Does this sound like a professionally run school to you? Want to know more, just ask!