A California Court of Appeal unanimously sided on Friday with Anaheim parents who want an elementary campus converted into a charter school over the district’s strong objections — an opinion hailed as ground-breaking.
Parents of schoolchildren at Palm Lane Elementary, the appellate judges said, met the requirements needed to tap the state’s so-called trigger law, which allows low-performing schools to change the administration and how the school is run if signatures are gathered from at least half of the campus’ parents.
“It’s an important day for families trapped in failing schools,” said attorney Mark Holscher, who represented the Palm Lane parents. “They have an escape hatch.”
The case will impact future petitions for charter schools across California, he said. “It’s the first published decision that can be applicable throughout the state.”
The Fourth Appellate District court ruled against the Anaheim Elementary School District, which appealed a 2015 decision by Orange County Superior Court Judge Andrew Banks approving the parents’ petition to reform their school.
The district had argued that the parents did not have the required number of valid signatures and failed to meet other requirements. District officials also argued that Palm Lane was not subject to the law, because the previous evaluations used to measure schools’ academic performance were no longer in use.
The judges disagreed.
“Palm Lane Elementary School failed to meet AYP (adequate yearly progress) for nine of the prior 10 years,” the four appellate judges wrote in a 34-page decision.
Superintendent Linda Wagner said district officials are disappointed by the ruling.
” As a recent recipient of both a Gold Ribbon Award and Title 1 Academic Achievement Award from the state of California, neither of which are easy to attain, we know the teachers and staff at Palm Lane are continuing to work with parents to ensure the high academic achievement of all students at the school,” Wagner said in a statement.
“The district is carefully reviewing the decision to determine what, if any, next steps are appropriate,” Wagner said. “In the interim, we do not anticipate any changes at Palm Lane in the 2017-2018 school year.”
No matter if the district appeals or not to the state Supreme Court, the parents are going to push forward.
They will solicit and look at charter school programs by putting out requests for proposals, said former state Sen. Gloria Romero, who backed the parents. Those who signed the petition will select their top choice, which would then go to the school board for approval.
Parents who met regularly at a park behind the school to plan for the changes said they were elated.
“This is now our second win,” said parent Cecilia Ochoa. “We hope the district will accept it.”
There have been at least six schools in California, Holscher said, that have used the 2010 trigger law, officially called the California Parent Empowerment Act. Palm Lane Elementary is Orange County’s first.
Romero, who co-sponsored the bill, said the Palm Lane case affirms the rights of parents to transform failing schools. Romero now runs the nonprofit California Center for Parent Empowerment, which helped the Anaheim parents with their petition efforts.
Palm Lane Elementary, at 1646 W Palm Lane, is home to about 700 students. More than half are classified as English-learners.
