Community Meeting on Future of Micheltorena Street School

The co-location of a Citizens of the World Charter School on the Micheltorena Street School’s campus will be discussed today at a community meeting in the school's auditorium facilitated by LAUSD's community relations department.

Per Prop 39 regulations, school districts across California are required to provide a list of classrooms and facilities that are open and available to house charter schools.  In January, Principal Susan Furfari of Micheltorena Street School first learned of the district’s preliminary offer to match her school with a Citizens of the World Charter School. (The charter school can lease up to eight classrooms as well as share common areas per the proposed offer.)

“Our school is at stake,” contends Principal Furfari. Because the Micheltorena Street School has experienced a decline in enrollment, in part due to a population shift of families out of the area, Furfari believes the co-location of the charter school will hasten that decline even further. “That would mean that each consecutive year, the Citizens of the World Charter School would be offered more rooms at our school and our school could close,” she contends.  Local parents with pre-school age children are reluctant to send their kids to Micheltorena Street School because the perception is that is not as good as other local schools or charter schools in general, Furfari has found.

Over the last five years, she has worked hard to change that perception, and joined with fellow administrators, teachers, parents and community members  to improve facilities and programs at the elementary. (The thriving school/community garden on Sunset Boulevard is one highly visible change). “Parents are considering sending their children here instead of driving long distances to popular charters on the other side of town. Having a charter like Citizens of the World here would give them the charter option without the drive. Our school might not even be given a chance by many parents,” believes Furfari.

Charter schools pay a pro-rated fee for use of LAUSD facilities. Per Lorena Padilla-Melendez, LAUSD's Director of Community Relations, Citizens of the World would be required to pay $77,348.66 annually to the district’s general fund for the use of classrooms and shared space. (The funds are paid to the district rather than the school).  Parents anticipate many changes and the aspect of “a fractured school” if the Citizens of the World goes through the co-location process. (Student applications are now available on the organization’s website.)

For one, there will not be enough space for a planned Spanish immersion program at the Micheltorena school.  “The Citizens of the World Charters needs to be aware of the effect they’re going to have on education in the neighborhood,” area resident and parent Scott Hamilton Kennedy advises.  He understands parents’ frustration with LAUSD but also sees what can happen when parents and community members get involved and make positive changes, which has happened at Micheltorena.  He plans to attend the meeting to ask Citizen of the World representatives (who did not respond to emails or calls for this article) to find out if the organization is open-minded and willing to be flexible. “Charters came out of idea that there are imperfections in public schools,” Kennedy notes and asks, “Why didn’t they talk to the community before attempting to split our campus?”