The Livermore Valley Charter School appears headed for approval of its application to create a new high school in the city.
    The Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS), which is a division of the state Department of Education, gave its approval in March. The matter goes for final approval to the state board of education, which will meet July 8 and 9.
    The creation of the high school was denied by the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District board. The Alameda County School Board also rejected it, on a 5-2 vote. The issue then went to the ACCS, whose staff researched the three disputed issues, and recommended approval to the commission, which passed it unanimously.
    Next, the high school application will go to the state board of education, which provides staff for the ACCS. Approval is expected there, because of the ACCS vote.
    Bill Batchelor, president of the charter school board, said that the ACCS staff accepted the school's explanations of the three issues. One was the failure to disclose a specific site.
    The charter school had been negotiating for a site near Robertson Park. However, it didn't look like a financial agreement could be reached. Also, neighbors protested the use in a neighborhood with relatively little access, without having to travel past homes.
    The charter school board gave up on that site, and will be satisfied that the school district will find a home for it at either Granada or Livermore high schools in the short term. Under state law, the district must offer its facilities to the charter school.
    In the long term, the charter school, which is operated by the Livermore Charter Learning Corp., would acquire its own site.
    The high school would not open until the fall of 2010. There would be only a freshman class at that time. Formal name of the school is the Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory High School.
    Another objection to the high school was its alleged lack of diversity in the student population of the charter elementary school. Batchelor said that the school does have diversity, with its most diverse class being kindergarten, at 30 percent of total student population.
    Finances were the final objection. The school would start in the red. That's normal for any school in the fall, said Batchelor. The state sends its money after school starts. Meanwhile, schools use a Title V implementation grant to cover expenses. "The ACCS doesn't see it as a problem," said Batchelor.