Proposition

 Proposition Thirty-Nine. This was the little bombshell left in my lap as the meeting came to a close. A group of teachers, parents and district officials had gathered on Zoom to discuss the potential closure of my school, Horace Mann Elementary. Perhaps the most agonizing part of that last sentence was the word "potential." The recent election had replaced most of the hardline closure seats with those more friendly to keeping schools open. Would this translate into a measure rescinding the previous decision? 

We were told by the powers that continue to be that we should "hope for the best and prepare for the worst." This put me squarely in the mindset of those folks living down in hurricane country, furiously nailing plywood to the outside of their little shacks while secretly wishing that the storm would pass them by and crash into some other more deserving portion of the coast. Which brought me around to the Albert Einstein nugget, "You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." 

As our principal pointed out directly to anyone that was listening, we are trying to run a school currently with all the attendant complications, frustrations, and victories. Trying to keep a school from being closed is a completely separate challenge that sits just outside of the struggle to teach kids how to read. Which is where Proposition Thirty-Nine comes into play. 

A sharp-eyed colleague noticed a line in one of the district's slideshow. It suggested that if there was a charter school that was willing to give up their charter and merge with a public school, that would "solve the facilities issue." 

Nearly a year into this process, which has not included a single visit by a board member or district official, we find out that there is at least one avenue that could be taken to stop our school from being shut down. Why didn't we hear about this a year ago?

It was explained to us that Proposition Thirty-Nine was a very complex process that would have to be undergone to stave off closure. Someone on the Zoom call chimed in, "Anymore complicated than closing a school?" 

It may have been me. After the meeting, I looked into this complex document. My reading was pretty clear: If there is a charter school in need of more room, facilities, space, then they can gain access through the school district. If there is a struggling charter school that would rather have a spot for their students and staff and a public school would agree to absorb them, problem solved. The negotiation comes in where the charter school could be asked to give up their charter in order to facilitate the process. 

Given a year, this might have been an option that someone, in their voluminous spare time, could have pursued. Or perhaps someone with the district? 

Or maybe the district was hoping that this would all just go away. 

I won't. Not without more answers and a fight. If necessary. 

That's my proposition.