Vote Due on Hills Charter School: Marysville School Board Expected to Decide on Issue Tuesday

By Ryan McCarthy, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.

Feb. 11–A proposed charter school in the Yuba foothills is up for an accept-or-reject decision Tuesday by the Marysville Joint Unified School District board.

“We’re eternally optimistic,” Bruce Helft, who’s organizing the Yuba Environmental Science Charter Academy, said of the proposed school’s future.

Supporters of the K-8 charter school, proposed for a 10-acre site in Oregon House on Texas Hill Road, have said the school would broaden educational choices.

Some 4,400 students live within a 10-mile radius of the proposed location for the charter school, Helft said.

Some students in the area now travel to Nevada County to attend schools.

Funding, enrollment, teacher selection and textbooks were issues raised when the Board of Trustees reviewed the charter school proposal in January. Trustees also questioned the impact of a new school on Dobbins Elementary and cited the quality of existing schools in the district.

Oregon House resident Peter Lubbers, 37, who supports the charter school, said Friday, “The trustees, I think, made it sound like the education in Yuba County is fantastic. There’s a clear reason why a lot of parents send their children to Nevada County.”

The school board meeting will begin at 7:30 at 1919 B St., Marysville.

Contact Appeal reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com

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Copyright (c) 2008, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.

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