CHARTER FOR K-2 PROPOSED SMALL CLASS SIZES THE RULE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Four Westside Union School District teachers are proposing a kindergarten-through-second grade charter school that they say would offer small class sizes in a small-school setting.

At a time when schools are overcrowded and class sizes have increased due to budget cuts, the Sunny Day Early Primary School would enroll 100 students in its first year and have class sizes of 20 students to one teacher, the organizers said.

``As educators, we collaborated on what we envisioned as the ideal program for young learners,'' said Laura Duran, a teacher at Esperanza School and one of the four kindergarten instructors who came up with the idea. ``We envision a school where the focus is on the early formative years when the foundation is really being set for all future learning.

``We value the small class sizes, the small school community for early learners. We wanted to emphasize that in our program as well as have a program that has enrichment for everyone.''

The school proponents submitted their charter proposal last week to the Westside district office.

A public hearing is scheduled Oct. 4. Trustees are expected in early November to decide whether to grant or deny the charter, Superintendent Regina Rossall said.

``It will be reviewed by a committee of people against the standard,'' Rossall said. ``We have criteria that they have to meet in order for it to be an approved charter.''

Board member Deborah Rutkowski-Hines said charter schools have a role to play but need to fulfill certain requirements.

``The purpose of charter schools is to fill a need that maybe a regular school district can't fill,'' Rutkowski-Hines said. ``My only concerns with a charter are that they have a strong academic program in keeping with what we already have, are able to handle their finances so they don't become a burden to the school district, and they have a good student assessment to see how kids are doing.''

If approved, the school would open in August 2006, organizers said.

In the face of parent opposition, Westside trustees in February voted 3-2 to increase class sizes in kindergarten through third grade from 20 to up to 30 pupils. The bigger classes freed up classroom space for sixth-graders who were moved from middle school back to elementary school campuses.

Duran said she and the three other teachers had started planning the charter school before the cuts were made, but smaller class sizes have become a major draw in attracting parental interest.

``We realize there is an amount of parent support for 20-to-1 education,'' Duran said. ``As a charter, we have the flexibility to keep it. We felt there was need and value for this option.

``Parents' taxpayer dollars are still being used to fund class size reduction. We believe there should be access to that program as well.''

Besides small class sizes, the school plans to offer an enrichment program that would incorporate the arts, music and a study of a foreign language for every child, Duran said.

``It's a balanced curriculum where children are learning by doing and actively involved in learning,'' Duran said. ``Our students will be attaining the standards in a variety of ways, not through rote work sheets and drills, but through hands-on learning experiences.''

A location for the school has not been secured yet, pending approval of the charter, but Duran said it will be located in either west Palmdale or west Lancaster.

Potential sites include space within commercial development proposed in the Anaverde master-planned community and the Marketplace shopping center in Lancaster.

The school will accept children from throughout the Antelope Valley, through preference will be given to students in the Westside district, Duran said.

Plans call for expanding the school to add a third grade and a tuition-based preschool in the second year.

Sunny Day's board includes the four kindergarten teachers, who have more than 40 years teaching experience combined, and three Westside parents, one of whom is a retired teacher.

``We feel the school is just meeting a need for small class sizes and providing additional options to parents,'' Duran said. ``It supports what Westside has been doing for years and compliments their program. We feel that there's room in the valley and this district for educational options.''

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com