Respect Orange accomplished their goal of bringing the topic of this charter school to the attention of the city council and our community.  While we recognized our City Council did not have jurisdiction over education matters such as in the case of this issue, our request for individual Orange city leaders to contact OCDE/OCBE about the negative impacts to the community was met with the community’s turnout at the council meeting.  Respect Orange thanks each of the dozens of community members who attended the city council meeting to express their concerns with this proposed project.

Another positive outcome of the public comment offered about the TLC proposed charter school was a statement by Ms. Dana Kinkaid, Sr. Pastor, of First Christian Church of Orange, the landlord of school facility that TLC has entered into a lease agreement with to operate the proposed charter school at.  Ms. Kinkaid, indicated to the community in her public remarks to the city council that First Christian Church is committed to being a good neighbor and ensuring that TLC abides by the Conditional Use Permit requirements that currently exist for the site.  Respect Orange intends to meet with the church leaders to open and maintain a dialogue so going forward, we can continue to share the community’s concerns directly with the property owners of the proposed charter school.

We were happy to hear the charter was only approved by the OCBE on a conditional basis that includes, but is not limited to provisions that requires TLC make changes to its proposed charter school’s finances, and develop and submit to the OCDE a MOU to be drafted which fully outlines the partnership between TLC and Chapman University and how that will relate to the establishment and ongoing operations of the proposed Charter School.

Our hope is that the community can come together with a greater understanding of the very real impacts this type of school has for our community, property values, infrastructure, and quality of life.  Respect Orange believes further communication between the school, church, city and the community will continue to benefit Orange as this issue continues to develop.

Respect Orange has obtained and had the opportunity to review Tomorrow’s Leadership Collaborative’s (TLC) charter school business plan, which is commonly called a petition.  There are images of the petition at the bottom of this post, to show the massive size of the petition.  To be clear, Respect Orange is not against charter schools, but rather against this specific charter school and situation.

While Chapman University has come out publicly to state (click here) “the university is not a partner in the proposed TLC charter school” and that the letter on official Chapman University letterhead written by the dean of Attallah College of Educational Studies “does not serve as an official institutional endorsement from Chapman University” , documents in the TLC petition state otherwise.  The two entities are contradicting themselves, which is very confusing to the community.

In fact, the TLC petitioner (applicant) had to affirm all of the information in the petition is true.  You can read the pages of the TLC petition that mention Chapman University as a partner, collaborator, and stakeholder (CLICK HERE).

The applicant’s affirmation and application contradicts the statement made by Chapman University.  If CU is not a partner, as is claimed, then the TLC petition is null and void because it is not truthful and relies too heavily on “partner”, “collaborator”, and “stakeholder” Chapman University.  If CU is a parter, collaborator, and stakeholder (as claimed in the TLC petition) then CU has been untruthful to the community.

Chapman University has made up a lot of positive ground in the community the past few years by supporting the party ordinance and committing to build additional dorms.  We would not want to see the good will built by CU destroyed over this matter.  Respect Orange encourages Chapman University to write an official letter directly to the Orange County Board of Education to set the record straight.  A letter, similar to this (CLICK HERE), would go a long way to reinforce Chapman’s commitment and, most importantly, RESPECT to the Orange community.

Chapman University has partnered with Tomorrow’s Leadership Collaborative (TLC), a 4 month old entity, wanting to bring an estimated 772 additional students to an area adjacent to Old Towne Orange and roughly 1/2 mile from the CU campus (1130 E Walnut Ave, Orange, CA 92867).  Chapman “is committed to being an active partner” in this endeavor and this will create thousands of new car trips per day in an area that was not designed for such a purpose.  In typical  Chapman University fashion, CU has not informed the greater community nor asked for the community’s input.

The partnership, to form a charter school, has been planned in secret for the most part.  The Orange Unified School District (OUSD) DENIED the charter earlier this year, but now CU/TLC is going to the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) to bypass the local community and local decision makers.  Basically CU’s feelings were hurt they didn’t get their way.  If OCDE approves CU/TLC our local school district and community will have no say in this new school or its impacts.

Proposed Leadership:

The proposed leadership includes Dr. Megan Cosier, a professor at CU, and Don Thompson, whose family’s name is associated with The Thompson Policy Institute at Chapman University.  The proposed leadership has no experience leading a school.  The out of town CU/TLC leaders, based in San Clemente, claim to be local who understand our local community and local issues.  When was a 40 mile distance considered local?

SOLUTIONS AND WHAT CAN BE DONE:

RESPECT ORANGE supports education and supports Unity Middle College Charter School, which is run by OUSD and the local community. Respect Orange supports OUSD working with Unity to provide space on a district site that would support their work.  More importantly by supporting Unity Middle College Charter School, the money will stay with OUSD rather than CU/TLC having the discretion to use  public tax payer money for things not related to student education.

Attend the OC Department of Education March 14, 2018 Meeting at 10am (200 Kalmus Drive Costa Mesa) where the CU/TLC proposal will be decided.  Take three minutes to speak out against the CU backed plan to jam more students into Old Towne Orange.

Attend Orange City Council Meeting March 13, 2018 at 6pm at our City Hall.  Take three minute to share with our elected leaders that you support Unity Middle College Charter School and are AGAINST CU/TLC.

Email OC Board of Education at ocbe@ocde.us

Call OC Board of Education at 714-966-4012

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