SFUSD board denies Bayview Essential School charter after staff finds implementation gaps

The San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education voted on Feb. 27, 2007 to deny the charter petition from the Bayview Essential School of Music, Art, and Social Justice, adopting district staff'prepared findings that raised concerns about the petitioners'capacity to implement the program as proposed.

District staff, represented by Mary Richards, director of equity for charter schools, read into the record a formal recommendation that the board deny the petition under Education Code section 47605. The staff findings cited several specific gaps: the petition projected an initial ninth- and tenth-grade enrollment of 120 with a long-term target of 300 students but documented only 23 parent signatures indicating likely enrollment; the English-learner instructional strategy was described by petitioners as relying on their general academic program rather than a dedicated English Language Development plan; and the student discipline…