Battle Broils Over Bullis Charter School

Los Altos School District invited journalists to Bullis Charter School last Thursday, Aug. 1, to show that the campus was ready for the upcoming school year.

According to Doug Smith, President of the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees, the district is ready to hand over the keys to the school. The only thing standing in the way—a Facilities Use Agreement (FUA).  

Bullis received the FUA months ago, but has not signed it and returned it to the district. No FUA, no keys. “The most important thing is that the school is ready,” said Smith. “And as soon as they sign the facilities agreement they can occupy the school.”

Bullis counters that it doesn’t like the terms of the FUA and wants changes made. According to a news release, “LASD claims that the District cannot provide access to the new classrooms until BCS signs a Facility Use Agreement (FUA), despite the fact that since the 2006 school year LASD has not required an executed FUA prior to the start of the school year.  Typically the FUA is finalized during the school year though in the past several school years, no FUA has been executed.  Proposition 39 does not require that a FUA be part of the facilities process.”

This is what the Charter School law reads: “The school district and the charter school shall negotiate an agreement regarding use of and payment for the space." (Title 5, Division 1, Chapter 11, Subchapter 19, Article 3, 11969.9(k))

Parents on both sides of the issue are frustrated by the unending discord.

Tom Fenstermacher, a LASD parent who links his blog on Los Altos Patch, wrote, “I'm just disappointed that the kids seem to be being used to further a ‘school choice’ political movement, in one of the best school districts in the state.”

A handful of Bullis parents held a protest Thursday morning at the school district office. One commented, “How do I tell my first grader that he can’t use the FabLab@BCS, because the district is locking him out. The students and teachers are the ones suffering.”

The first day of school for Bullis Charter School is Tuesday, Aug. 20.

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