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Around 50 speakers have signed up to the Santa Ana Unified School District for why they need to rethink the possibility of bankrupting a performing arts school that is facing a large fee in the district.
Orange County School of Arts (OSHA) students, parents and advocates met at the district board on Tuesday to protest the decision to close schools after an economic dispute.
“Students don’t need to worry about losing access to education that inspires them,” one student said in a public comment.
Frustrated students, parents and teachers opposed the district’s financial demands for charter schools.
“We had that language on two charter renewal cycles of charter, and they all dropped a surprising $20 million bill in our lap, but that didn’t represent what they had promised,” claimed Teren Schaffer, president and CEO of OSHA.
District CEO Ron Hacker argued that OSHA is fully aware of its obligation to pay fair shares for special education expenses across the district, according to other officials.
“If our impartial contributions are from us, it is our board’s fiduciary responsibility to ensure that we gather them,” he said. “The others are gifts of public funds.”
The school sued the district and was in a long-standing legal battle with it. The judge recently ruled in the district’s favor of ensuring OSHA makes their fair contributions.
“I’ve seen their books, and that’s not true,” Hacker said. “They have a healthy fund balance, so this isn’t hurting them. They’ve brought this lawsuit, and they can stop it.”
OSHA currently hopes to return to mediation with the district to settle for what appears to be reasonable. It is unknown when that will be.
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