KELSEYVILLE — The Kelseyville Unified School District (KUSD) is on the road to opening a charter school.
On Tuesday, the KUSD Board of Trustees held a public hearing regarding a petition submitted to open the Intermountain STEM Academy Charter School. The KUSD board unanimously approved it.
Stephanie Farland of Collaborative Solutions for Charter Authorizers submitted the petition at a special meeting on April 8.
The petition will now be sent to the California State Board of Education for approval, Farland said.
David McQueen, KUSD superintendent, said that the district would like to expand the STEM program to each school after the charter school opens. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which are the academic disciplines the program focuses on most.
Additionally, the KUSD board unanimously approved a resolution to establish funds for the charter school.
Furthermore, the creation of two positions for the charter school were unanimously approved. The first position is for a full-time teaching position and the second is for an instructional aide. The aide position will work seven hours per day for 181 days each year, if approved.
In its first year, the charter school will admit fifth- to eighth-grade students, Farland said.
In other business, the KUSD board unanimously approved the continuation of the Provision II Food Service Program.
According to McQueen, the program will have a deficit this year and possibly next, but recommended the continuation in order to “put more effort into student participation.”
“We”re not feeding all of the students right now,” KUSD Director of Food Services Michelle Malm said. “We may want to consider offering a second-chance breakfast break.”
A subscription renewal for the accelerated reading and STAR reading programs was unanimously approved by the KUSD Board of Trustees, which will cost $10,591 and will be paid from the 2013/14 approved technology budget.
The district and migrant education summer school programs were unanimously approved by the KUSD board, as well as a food service agreement for the migrant education summer school program.
An overnight trip for K-CORPS to the Clear Lake State Park was also unanimously approved. The trip will take place from May 9 to 13.
K-CORPS is a student organization deployed by the Lake County Sheriff”s Office in times of need. Students are on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is a two-year program.
Concerns regarding the safety of the district use of RoundUp herbicide on school grounds were discussed. No action was taken and it was decided that the use of the herbicide was done properly and cautiously enough to continue its use.
J. W. Burch, IV is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at jburch@record-bee.com.
