The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District board gave a unanimous thumbs down to a new charter school in the district at its Jan. 3 meeting, paving the way for Bay View Academy's founding parents to appeal to the County Office of Education.

"The whole tone with talking to the county is different," says  parent Bill Shaw. "They're interested and seem supportive."

Shaw says the parent group, which is made up mostly of New Monterey parents whose kids attend Bay View Elementary,   plan to submit the appeal Jan. 5, and hope for an answer by March 15 so that school bells can ring  at the new charterl in  August 2011. The appeal is ready for filing,Shaw says. His group prepared it at the end of year, expecting a denial from the board.

Bay View school is set to close at the end of this school year. The city of Monterey has offered Hilltop Recreation Center as a possible site for the new charter if it's approved and the district can't be persuaded to part with the current Bay View Elementary School site. 

District spokeswoman Anne Kilty says she doesn't know what the district will do with the Bay View building.  "The district is looking at an appropriate use or re-use," Kilty says.

New Monterey parents intially  presented their proposal for the K-5 charter school, which  would stress hands-on experiential learning, to the the Board last month.

They outlined their ideas for  partnerships with the rich mix of art, cultural and scientific organizations in the community like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Colton Hall and the Monterey Museum of Art, and planned to offer art, music and Spanish classes. 

 Kilty says although the board liked much of what was in the Bay View parents' petition, they didn't feel it met California Education Code requirements.

"They were concerned about the lack of specificity in terms of curriculum," Kilty says. She also notes that Board members believe the charter's financial plan was unrealistic considering the upcoming budget cuts.

But Shaw contends the MPUSD had already made up its mind, noting that his group provided 150 pages describing the curriculum. Likewise, he argues his group did a good job of putting together a budget, using a recognized expert in charter school financing to do so.

Still, he says what really angers him is a statement by the district's lawyer who concluded that Bay View parents only wanted to serve the children of their community, which is diverse but predominantly white. He says he personally stressed to the board that the school would be open to all children in the district, as the law requires.

"It makes me angry that they bring in this lawyer from outside the area, who says this group only intends to have kids come only from their area. He didn't talk to us."