Appeals Court Finds in Favor of Bullis Charter School

A state appeals court ruled Thursday that the (LASD) had failed to comply with a state law that requires districts to offer and provide facilities to charter schools that were "reasonably equivalent" to other schools in the district.

In a stunning development with possible implications for charter schools across the state, the three-justice panel of the Sixth District Court of Appeal found LASD did not comply with the law, known as Proposition 39, and its implementing regulations, in the 2009-10 school year. LASD was supposed to analyze the existing space at comparison schools and offer "reasonably equivalent" facilities.

Bullis currently operates a kindergarten through 8th grade school on one side of the campus on Portola Avenue.

The 48-page ruling, however, said the court found several deficiencies. The ruling noted that when measuring the space at district-run schools, LASD excluded from consideration more than a million square feet, collectively, from five schools used as comparison schools. Such measurements are needed to do an adequate analysis in order make "a complete and fair" facilities offer.

Such a "significant distortion" by LASD resulted in Bullis Charter students not being afforded "reasonable equivalence" in space and facilities when the offer was made, the court found.

The court noted that the district also overstated the amount of space that it offered Bullis, counting soccer fields that were shared with others and therefore only available to the charter school 40 percent of the time.

The court stopped short of characterizing LASD as acting in bad faith, but pointedly wrote: "There is certainly evidence in the record ... from which such a finding could be made. We decline to do so here."

A full report and analysis will follow on Friday.