As board president of Bridges Charter School, I’m writing to express my regret that supporters of the Bridges Charter School petition have implied in recent letters to the editor that a decision has been definitively made to place our K-8 school at the closed University Elementary campus.

As no facilities decision has yet been agreed to, such statements have made it apparent to me that there must be confusion as to how site selection works in the charter school process. This is understandable since the law on this topic––Proposition 39––is rather complex.

Bridges Charter School has filed paperwork with Conejo Valley Unified School District requesting to be located on the University Elementary School site, which is currently mostly vacant. The reasons for this request include but aren’t limited to:

•Proximity to many of the 300 families who have signed our petition and “intent to enroll” forms.

•Outdoor space suitable for our focus on environmental sustainability and health.

•Classroom configurations which easily facilitate integration of a shared elementary and middle school environment.

While CVUSD has every right to make a counterproposal as to where to place Bridges, the court system will retain ultimate jurisdiction in these matters where necessary.

In conversations regarding Bridges’ site request, the district has stated that it currently has other plans for the University campus and would like to work with Bridges to find a suitable, mutually satisfactory alternative location.

What cannot be known at the present moment with any certainty is exactly where Bridges Charter School will open in September of 2010; any statements made to the contrary in letters or elsewhere are inaccurate. Randy Witt Westlake Village

Witt is the board president of the proposed Bridges Charter School.