Respect Orange recently met with the senior pastor at First Christian Church of Orange, the landlord of the school facility in which the TLC Charter School has entered into a lease agreement. First Christian Church of Orange reiterated they are committed to being a good neighbor. Respect Orange also had the opportunity to walk the grounds with church representatives and saw first hand the space allotted for the school, including play/recreation areas and parking spaces.
Our friends at the Old Towne Preservation Association (OTPA) are hosting the third annual State of Old Towne on Monday, April 16, 2018 inside the Community Room at the Orange Public Library.
This is an opportunity to ask Chapman University’s VP of Community Relations questions aboutChapman University’s impacts to the community and anticipated expansion. Mayor Tita Smith, Police Chief Kisela, and City Manager Rick Otto will be on the panel to brief the community on issues impacting Old Towne Orange, not limited to homelessness, parking, Chapman student housing, and other subjects you may choose to bring up during the Q&A session.
OTPA is also providing free refreshments to those in attendance.
More information can be found at www.otpa.org
The Metrolink Parking Structure has an anticipated completion date of Late 2018/Early 2019. See below for images and updates!
EXCAVATION COMPLETED!
In late February, crews finished excavation of the two underground levels of the parking structure. With the installation of the building’s foundation underway, crews will begin building upward
MOVING FORWARD
Starting in mid-March, a temporary street staging area for construction vehicles and supply trucks will be established on southbound Lemon Street, adjacent to the project site, to maximize safety and productivity during ongoing construction activities.
Southbound Lemon Street Closures:
The temporary staging area will require closure of the Lemon Street southbound lane and shoulder between Maple Avenue and Chapman Avenue. Street staging will occur as needed, between 7 a.m. and 5:30p.m., Monday through Friday. During this time, traffic controllers will help guide motorist traveling near the work zone.
Alternative Traffic Routes:
Northbound: The northbound Lemon Street travel lane and sidewalk will remain open to motorist, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Parking along northbound Lemon Street will also remain
Southbound: All southbound motorist are encouraged to use Cypress Avenue or Olive Street as an alternate route while southbound Lemon Street is closes. The northbound Lemon Street sidewalk will remain open for pedestrians.
Bus Stop: Effective March 13, 2018, the OCTA bus stop located at the northwest corner of Lemon Street and Chapman Avenue for routes 54 and 453 will be closed. Passengers can board at the Orange Transportation Center.
Construction schedule and operations are subject to change.
For more information, contact OCTA Community Relations Andrea Hammann
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.
Tomorrow’s Leadership Collaborative (TLC), the same entity that is operates out of a private residence in San Clemente, has released its list of Board of Directors. 50% (3 of 6) of the initial Board of Directors have direct ties to Chapman University. Click here to see the names and resumes/information of the three directors with ties to Chapman University. For higher education institution that claims “is not a partner in the proposed TLC charter school” there sure seems to be a lot of ambiguity.
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.
The TLC charter petition “plans to locate in the area immediately surrounding the Chapman University campus in the Old Town Orange area”. While the petitioners are “planning our budgets and operations conservatively, the following are our enrollment projects for the term of this charter:
| 2018-2019 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TK | 12 | 18 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| K | 36 | 54 | 72 | 72 | 72 |
| 1 | 24 | 48 | 72 | 96 | 96 |
| 2 | 24 | 48 | 72 | 96 | 96 |
| 3 | 12 | 24 | 48 | 72 | 96 |
| 4 | 12 | 24 | 48 | 72 | 96 |
| 5 | - | 24 | 48 | 72 | 96 |
| 6 | - | - | 56 | 56 | 84 |
| 7 | - | - | - | 56 | 56 |
| 8 | - | - | - | - | 56 |
| TOTAL | 120 | 240 | 440 | 616 | 772 |
While the charter petition is planning conservatively with 772 students, the site chosen, 1130 East Walnut Avenue, only has a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in place for 150 students. You can read the CUP by clicking here. It doesn’t make much sense unless the idea is to “pursue additional potential facilities options in the community”, which is stated in the TLC petition. Keep in mind TLC will not provide transportation to and from school, except as required by law. This means that whatever the TLC population is in a given year, there will be that many morning car trips dropping kids off at school and that many car trips in the afternoon picking kids up from school. This is in addition to additional infrastructure stressors caused by teachers and other school support staff that is needed to operate a facility.
You can read the pages on population, enrollment plan, and transportation by CLICKING HERE.
While there currently is no proposal to add 772 students to the 1130 East Walnut Avenue property, anything above the current 150 students will need an amendment to the CUP, which has yet to be requested. TLC has every intention of 772 students as stated in their charter petition. While Respect Orange could not envision how the site could accommodate too many more students, the map below shows the student population if both TLC adds 772 students and Chapman University increases enrollment to 10,500 as they are expected to request.
Friends, Neighbors, and Community Members:
Respectfully,
Adam Duberstein
RESPECT ORANGE is in the planning stages for a fun 2018 Summer Event guaranteed to bring the community together, showcase our community’s assets, and put a smile on the faces of both young and old.
If you answered “YES” to any of these questions email volunteer@RespectOrange.org to learn more!
Daniele Struppa and Chapman University are preparing to roll out of their latest Specific Plan, the City of Orange document that dictates what development is allowed. Will the roll out be at CU’s State of the University Address on February 23, 2018?
We believe the CU’s application for a 10 year specific plan will be formally submitted to the City March 2018 for a May 2019 vote at City Council. We believe the Specific Plan may include, but not be limited to the following:
Remember the 1989 original Specific Plan which included regulations and guidelines that addressed not only the University’s current needs for facilities, but also the projected needs for the University’s ultimate buildout over 30 years? The current Specific Plan or the anticipated Specific Plan sure doesn’t appear to be what the City of Orange signed on for in 1989 (year 1989+30 = year 2019).
You can tune in live to CU’s State of the University Address from the comfort of your own home by clicking here to find out if the public announcement will be tomorrow,