The Santa Cruz County Board of Education held a heated meeting on Thursday as it prepared to decide whether to extend the charter of the Pacific Collegiate School for another five years. The problem isn’t the quality of education at the award-winning school, ranked the #1 charter school in the country. What was in question was a legal opinion that the school, which is now open to students throughout the county, should give preference to students living in the Santa Cruz City Schools district.
The Pacific Collegiate School is considered very desirable by county residents, and the demand for admission is high. Currently, preference is given to the siblings of current students and alumni and the children of faculty and board members. All other applicants are selected in a lottery. If, however, preference is given to students from the City Schools district, some district representatives fear that this would draw away some of the public school system’s best students.
Most of the 67 people who spoke out at the public meeting talked glowingly of the school. But the school had its distracters too, including the Superintendent of the local school district and three City Schools board members. Their chief complaint was the lack of diversity at the school, which they said fostered elitism.
There was certainly jealousy, however, and rightfully so. Though the school has just over 400 students, frugal policies and donations from parents ensure that it has a reserve funds estimated at one-third of those of the entire school district, which serves some 7,000 students. Though they would not say it outright, it was apparent that the school district’s leaders would be happy to see Pacific Collegiate just disappear.
The school and district will meet in the next week to discuss the issue further. Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel.
