Demand that the District Provide Quality Education Options in Napa Valley, and Treat Families with Respect!

California State Board of Education
1430 N Street, Room 5111
Sacramento, CA 95814

Re: Support for the Petition of Mayacamas Charter Middle School

Dear Honorable Members of the State Board of Education:

The last few years have been tumultuous for many NVUSD families as the district has closed and consolidated schools, including the beloved River Middle School that saw its last graduating class in June, which successfully guided our community's children for almost three decades using a unique combination of social-emotional and project-based learning, agency, and student-centered learning. The district superintendent and Board of Trustees has repeatedly demonstrated its lack of enthusiasm for creative thinking, and has chosen to limit options for students at a time when many students need more educational opportunities.
Responding to this need, a coalition of parents, teachers, and public school professionals came together to advocate for a new school, one that would be unique in its approach and design as well as 100% committed to meeting the needs of families for whom the current district offerings fall short.

This new school is called Mayacamas Charter Middle School: Mayacamas proposes several distinctive, proven features informed by educational experts and desired by parents:

• Student-Focused - Individual Learning Plans developed by each student in collaboration with their advisor, the creation of a portfolio of work collected over all three years, and 45 min Learning Labs 4 times per week to allow for individualized learning (ESL, Advanced learners, tutoring, small group work, etc).
• Real dedication to Social-Emotional Learning – Dedicated daily advisory serving as the bridge between the student's home living situation and their "Mayacamas Family", with a curriculum focused on learning who they are, and their role in the community.
• Independent governance - The Mayacamas board will be made up of community leaders, parents and experts, and accountable to the parents it serves.
• Small school environment - At capacity, the school plans to serve approximately 340 students, providing a much-needed smaller and personal middle school option for Napa families.
• Partnership with New Tech Network - A whole-school, project-based approach to student learning and staff professional development that focuses on necessary skills like critical thinking, collaboration, content knowledge, oral communication and agency that are important for success in school and beyond.

On December 9, 2021, the NVUSD Board of Trustees voted to deny this parent and community-led effort to bring Mayacamas to life after a sham review process devoid of any intent to review our petition on its merits, during which the district repeatedly abused its discretion and violated the petitioners' right to due process. The district's abusive behavior and obvious bias against the petitioners was evidenced by the manner in which it engaged the process: its demand that we petitioners only communicate through the district's outside counsel, the denial of our request to have twelve minutes to present our petition at the district's initial public hearing, the district Trustees' refusal to meet with us – their constituents, the issuance of the unbalanced and biased staff report that was devoid of a single positive comment about the charter despite 183 pages of extensive and proven curricula (including the New Tech Network model curriculum used by two NVUSD schools), and the egregious behavior of the district during our appeal before the NCOE.
The lead petitioners then filed an appeal to the Napa County Board of Education. Unfortunately, during that process, the district engaged in a series of actions designed to bully and intimidate the County Office of Education, and shortly before the final vote, we were told by several sources that the district superintendent and district staff made material and deceitful representations to the English Learner community in an effort to cajole them to call in against our Petition. During and after the hearing on March 15, 2022, the NCOE engaged in a series of actions constituting an abuse of discretion, violating the petitioners' due process rights. The NCOE Board failed to follow the legally-mandated process. For example, the NCOE Board was required under the Education Code to either grant our petition, or adopt written factual findings to deny the petition, within 90 days of the filing of the appeal. However, at the hearing on March 15th, the NCOE Board voted to deny the Petition but failed to provide the legally-required written factual findings to support that denial. It wasn't until weeks later that the NCOE Board's outside counsel provided petitioners with a declaration of findings that were crafted days after the hearing, which was a textbook example of a prejudicial abuse of discretion.

The Petitioners have now filed an appeal before the State Board of Education, and is only one of three schools to file an appeal since the new law (AB1505) governing charter schools was passed in 2019. This appeal may have far-reaching consequences beyond Napa, as it is likely to be the first appeal heard by the State Board of Education under AB1505 to answer the question of whether a charter may be denied on the basis of declining enrollment having a negative financial impact - albeit small – on the district's financial condition. Ultimately, we know that the California legislature intended for charter schools to provide an opportunity for communities to create unique alternatives to district schools, and school districts should not have the ability to use statewide declining enrollment as an excuse to deny qualified charters.

We urge the community to stand by the Foundation and help us ensure that Napa has public school options that meet the needs of families who have seen their educational options dwindle because of drastic cuts and school closures.

As a signatory to this letter of support, we strongly support Mayacamas Charter Middle School! Please reverse the NCOE's denial and approve the Mayacamas Charter Middle School Petition.