A proposal for a new charter school in Novato is flawed in numerous areas including curriculum, budgeting and the likely makeup of the student body, school district staffers said Tuesday.
The staff shared its conclusions Tuesday in a report to the Novato Unified School District board, which is reviewing a petition for a K-8 charter school from the North Bay Educational Foundation.
The foundation wants to serve an estimated 544 students at its North Bay Academy, and it has requested use of the former Hill Middle School campus or a vacant former military parcel in the Hamilton neighborhood. Supporters say the school would provide a rigorous curriculum to help students of all ethnicities and abilities, but opponents argue it would lead to increased inequality in the district.
The foundation is proposing to use Core Knowledge, a curricular model from Charlottesville, Va.-based Core Knowledge Foundation's model used in more than 700 schools. The model includes a detailed sequence of material in language arts, history, geography, math, science and the fine arts.