Amador County – Proponents of the Foothill Charter School submitted a petition to form the school last Wednesday to the Amador County Unified School District board of directors, with one potential location being the former Safeway building on Highway 49 and 88 in Jackson.

Ramona Longero, president of Foothill Charter School, said she submitted a petition with more than 70 signatures of parents of children of eligible age to attend the proposed school. She also submitted a support document that was signed by other members of the community who do not have school-aged children, but wanted to support the charter school.

Longero said the petition was placed on an agenda for an open public hearing on December 10, as it was required to be heard within 30 days of the filing of the petition. She said the time of the meeting is yet to be determined, but the school board had initially tried to set it for 9 a.m. Longero said she was worried that it would not allow people interested in attending to be able to make a daytime meeting, and she preferred the hearing be held at night, as are the school board meetings.

Foothill Charter School submitted the petition to the school board Wednesday, November 10th and the public hearing was set for Friday, December 10th at the Jackson Civic Center. The hearing will allow public comments, including concerns or issues.

Longero said they would “take closer look at the budget than anything else,” and the company will have a financial consultant, Delta Services, attend and answer questions.

Locations considered ideal for the school were Upcountry and Ridge Road areas, but the former Safeway seemed like a good central location for people coming from Upcountry, Ione, Mokelumne Hill, or other areas. She said Safeway was really interested in subleasing to the school, and realized there are needs in the community.

The Foothill Charter School petition proposes to have seven grades in its first year, from kindergarten up to sixth grade. Longero said it would have a limit of 20 children per class, and one class per grade, and could serve up to 140 children. She said subsequent years at the school would add another grade annually, until it reached K-12 status.

The school has a goal of opening in Fall of 2011.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.