Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) trustees voted 4-1 to reject the petition for Bridges Charter School Tuesday night, paving the way for the proposed school’s board to approach the Ventura County Office of Education for approval.

Board member Michael Dunn voted in favor of the school’s petition.

Bridges Charter School was developed by a group of teachers and parents from Conejo Elementary’s Open Classroom Program.

“Several parents, staff felt that the program never really got the support it deserved from the district as its first magnet,” said CVUSD Superintendent Mario Contini. “As the district has developed more magnets and academies, some parents in the open program thought the district gave more support to them than open program received in the past, which is very, very true.”

A group of teachers and parents weren’t satisfied with recent district efforts to increase support for the 16-year-old program, and a petition for Bridges was presented to Contini on Oct. 6.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District staff had identified more than 50 deficiencies in the school’s petition, including those in the proposed homeschool program.

“The definition of the homeschool program was not near sufficient,” said Contini. “Staff didn’t find it to be a reliable revenue source. There were also some serious deficiencies in special education, English language learner (programs) and closing the achievement gap.”

According to Contini, many of Bridges’ responses were adequate, but a few were not. District staff prepared two memorandums of understanding—one addressing the school’s general fiscal operation and one addressing special education.

If the Bridges board signed the memorandums, agreeing to the district’s terms, the CVUSD board would approve the petition. The Bridges board refused.

Lori Peters, Bridges organizer and longtime open classroom teacher, said it appeared “staff wanted to create more paperwork” for the group. Many of the questions were about implementing federal and state standards and development of teaching styles, which Peters said would require much staff collaboration.

Contini brought the documents to the board meeting to give Bridges one last chance to sign, but they again passed and rejected an offer of an extension because of worries that they would miss county deadlines.

Ten speakers spoke on behalf of Bridges to convince the district to approve the petition despite the unsigned documents.

“We are not seeking to argue,” Helda Solis said. “We wish to engage in conversation. We are not looking for rejection; we are looking for understanding. We ask you to walk alongside us on our journey. We will make you proud. Courageous leaders embrace monumental change.”

Bridges Charter School would be based on the whole child education teaching style, focusing on parent involvement, social development and a wide variety of subjects.

“Bridges intends to build a staff entirely dedicated to whole child education,” Rose Ann Witt said.

Most of the board members weren’t willing to approve the charter without the unresolved issues being addressed.

“It would be irresponsible of me to vote yes on something with no agreements on what the curriculum is, what our duties are, what we are going to do with special ed students,” said board member Peggy Buckles. “You are asking us to take this leap of faith without telling us anything. You won’t agree to take the extra time to sign the (memorandums). You just want to move ahead quickly.”

Board member Pat Phelps agreed. “They want us to take this leap of faith and support them,” she said. “But they won’t sign the (memorandums) or even take an extension. I think that shows they really aren’t interested in working with the district.”

Bridges will now take their petition to the county for approval.

The CVUSD board rejected the petition for the Conejo Valley’s first charter school, MATES (Meadows Arts and Technology Elementary School), a year ago. The school was later approved by the county.