Dear Loyal Vista Student Center Students, Parents and Staff,
I am delighted to announce that our program was unanimously approved by the State Board of Education (SBE) last week!
This means we will be able to continue our La Fuente Academy and homeschool programs uninterrupted. Many, many thanks to all families and staff who attended board meetings, wrote letters, called board members and otherwise advocated for parent choice in education to help make this win possible.
As you know, changes to legal interpretation for our type of charter school last year required that we seek local authorization. We petitioned to Vista Unified School District twice and we were denied twice. We appealed this decision to the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE). No action was taken by San Diego County, so we appealed to the State Board of Education. The SBE staff reviewed our petition with a fine-tooth comb. We are proud that the SBE’s staff, employees of the California Department of Education, recommended approval, and that the board unanimously ratified our approval. This is a big win for the student choice in San Diego County.
In closing, I’d like to remind all of you that public school choice is a hot-button issue in California right now. Please keep school choice in mind as you make decisions about political candidates and laws. When we elect charter-friendly school board members, mayors, governors, city council members, etc, we break the traditional district public school monopoly and provide competition that improves the quality for all public school students.
Thanks again for getting involved and CONGRATULATIONS! Your new charter school will be called “Vista Springs Charter School” which will include La Fuente Dual Immersion as a five-day program, homeschool, homeschool learning center, a 3-day classroom option with two days of homestudy program called Mosaic, and a supported independent study high school, Keys Career and College Prep. We are looking forward to continuing this exciting journey with you!
Best regards,
Dr. Kathleen Hermsmeyer
Superintendent, Springs Charter Schools
