Education Code section 47614 and its implementing regulations at 5 C.C.R. 11969 (known as “Proposition 39”) require school districts to offer charter schools space in district school buildings. Charter schools receive space in district buildings based on the number of in-district students they are projected to enroll and the amount of space allocated to comparable district schools serving the same grade levels as the charter schools.

At its February 9, 2016 meeting, the Board approved a preliminary offer of space for the Academy of Alameda Charter Middle School in its current location on the Chipman Campus. The preliminary offer would have given the middle school two additional rooms at Chipman to accommodate its increased in-district enrollment. At the same meeting, the Board directed staff to deny the space request made by the Academy of Alameda Charter Elementary School because the elementary school had not substantiated enough projected in-district enrollment to qualify for space under Proposition 39.

Staff has since been in negotiations with the Academy regarding a possible alternative agreement that would preserve space at Chipman for the district’s Adult School while also finding a space solution for the Academy schools that minimized potential disruption and litigation risk.

Ultimately, the Academy agreed to the attached one-year alternative agreement. The agreement would preserve the current space-sharing arrangement at Chipman. Adult School would retain all of its current rooms, and the two Academy schools would continue to share the same rooms currently allocated to them. The proposed agreement also sets out the conditions on the Academy schools’ use of the space. The agreement expires after the 2016-17 school year.