Opinion: The Law is on SCALE Academy’s Side

The purpose of this press release is to provide documentation in support of SCALE Academy’s right to operate within the city of Pasadena. Furthermore, this document is intended to provide community members reassurance that SCALE Academy is alive, well, currently enrolling, and fully within its right to serve children and families seeking an alternative learning environment in the Pasadena community.

As you may or may not know, the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) issued a press release on July 28, 2014 threatening to file a suit against SCALE Academy Charter School (SLA) for establishing a school location within it’s region. PUSD later followed through by filing a temporary restraining order to close down SCALE Academy on August 15, 2014, prior to the school’s opening day but failed. The judge ruled against PUSD and in favor of SCALE Academy Charter School to remain open. SCALE Academy Charter school successfully opened its doors on August 18, 2014.

Recent news also provides even more reassurance that the law is on the side of SCALE Academy. A recent bill was introduced by anti-charter policy makers and several California school district officials seeking to limit school choice and restrict access to families to alternative charter school options. This bill would have removed the authority of a charter school to locate outside the geographic boundaries of the chartering school district without the approval of the school district in which it is located. This bill was vetoed by the Governor Brown this past weekend and thereby maintain the current law that permits certain charter schools to locate outside of their authorizing district’s boundaries.

This is a great victory for SCALE Academy and charter schools throughout California that provide school choice for children and families. As a result of this veto, District attempts to close down various schools has been “stopped”. As you may or may not know, SLA is a charter school located at 1206 Lincoln Avenue in the city of Pasadena where students participate in a blended learning model to support technology integration, self discovery, and project-based learning.

PUSD based their facts and initial press release on the belief that the anti-charter SB 1263 bill would pass and discredit SCALE Academy and similar schools in support of PUSD’s legal claims. However, we hope that Pasadena families recognize PUSD’s unwarranted anti charter stance against SCALE Academy and invite families interested in change to continue work with SLA to improve the quality of education not only in the city of Pasadena but in the great state of California as a whole. As a result, SCALE Academy will continue its mission by providing greater school choice and educational equity within the public education system.