The National School District has settled its case against the Julian Union Elementary School District over the legal status of an independent charter school that they claimed opened and operated outside its jurisdiction.
As part of the agreement, the Julian Union Elementary School District has agreed to close the former charter, called Beacon Classical Elementary Charter School, and open under the National School District on July 1 under the new name Beacon Classical Academy National City.
With the acquisition, the National School District becomes responsible for the oversight of the academy and will provide special education services, oversee school operations and provide oversight support.
National School District governing board members in June voted unanimously in favor of the agreement.
“We had the discussion regarding closing the school under Julian, which they agreed to, and bringing the charter school into the National School District,” said Chris Carson, assistant superintendent of business services with the National School District.
The lawsuit alleged that Julian Union Elementary School District violated the Charter Schools Act of 1992 by approving Beacon’s charter petition and authorizing Beacon to operate outside the geographical boundaries of the Julian school district and within the National School District at 2400 Euclid Ave.
“All along the disagreement had to do with the National School District feeling strongly that if public education was in the city of National City, we should have some educational and fiscal oversight as required by law,” Carson said.
California Education Code 47605 says that a charter school must open in the boundaries of the school district that’s overseeing it.
Julian was also supposed to attempt to locate a facility within its boundaries, which Carson said they never did, therefore he said it is a violation of the education code.
Carson previously said Julian also never notified the National School District of its intent to operate a charter in National City.
Officials at the Julian school district did not return messages seeking comment for this story.
Beacon Executive Director Alma Van Nice said she is glad the legal battle is behind the school so that it can continue serving quality education.
“I look forward to working with National School District, in developing a cooperative partnership for the benefit of the children and families we serve,” she said. “I feel privileged to have this opportunity to offer the families of National City and the surrounding South Bay communities a classical education, an education that will enrich their lives and the community.”
Originally Beacon had opened as a non-classroom-based program under Julian that offered learning center classes one to four days a week. For the 2014-15 school year, about 140 children attended the K-8 charter.
Beacon will continue to operate as an independent charter, which means they will receive funding directly from the state.
Under the control of the National School District, Beacon will service 80 percent of their students with classroom-based instruction five days a week and another 20 percent of the students will receive non-classroombased instructional support.
Classroom-based is attendance-based state funding. Independent study is state funding based on work completion.
This will be the second charter school that the National School District will oversee. The first one was Integrity Charter School.
