One school district in Santa Barbara County is settling a lawsuit with a local charter school.
Olive Grove Charter Schools sued Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District because they claimed the district owed them hundreds of thousands of dollars according to state law.
Superintendent Scott Cory says the district is paying $552,669 out of pocket in the lawsuit. This comes after the amount the district owed for the estimated 84 students as certified by the California Department of Education was $746,792 and it only received $194,123 for its out-of-district students from the State.
The district raised concerns over the lawsuit because the amount of money Olive Grove Charter Schools asked for could have caused it to declare bankruptcy.
While state laws regarding the connection between public school districts and charter schools have not changed much since the 1990s, Cory said making the change away from receiving funding for non-resident students is a victory in itself.
“We were successful in our fight to change Education Code last year and the counting of non-resident students is no longer allowable as of the 19/20 school year for basic aid districts, which will help our situation significantly moving forward,” Cory said in a statement to KSBY.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill in March making charter schools subject to the same public records and conflict of interest laws as public schools.
Olive Grove Charter Schools also filed a lawsuit against the Lompoc Valley School District in March. No updates have been given about that suit.
