MDUSD Board Plans on Clayton Valley Charter Vote in September

The Mount Diablo Unified School District board will decide later this summer if it will allow Clayton Valley High to convert to a charter school.

On Tuesday, the board announced the meeting dates on which it will hear from the public and vote on the proposal that could drastically change the only public high school in Clayton.

The Clayton Valley Charter Steering Committee will have an opportunity to present its case to the board Aug. 9. The general public also can comment on the conversion at that time.

On Sept. 13, the board is expected to question the steering committee and vote on the proposal.

"To be honest, it's up in the air," Clayton Valley Charter Steering Committee co-chairman Neil McChesney said of the vote on the conversion.

"We hope very much to get approval at this level because we really want to work with the school district, but I honestly don't know," he said.

If a majority of board members vote against the conversion, their decision could be appealed to the Contra Costa County Board of Education. If the county board rejects the proposal, it can be appealed to the California State Board of Education.

Charter advocates hope to make Clayton Valley a charter school for the 2012-13 school year and believe they will have enough time to do so if the MDUSD board grants approval. But, if the proposal has to go through the appeal process, McChesney said he's not sure if there would be enough time to convert Clayton Valley to a charter school by fall 2012.

The Clayton City Council, , endorsed the conversion unanimously during its meeting Tuesday night.

The charter document, which is available online, was approved by 80 percent of Clayton Valley teachers; 50 percent were needed for the proposal to reach the MDUSD board.

Though public high schools have been converted to charter schools in Southern California, Clayton Valley would become the first to do so in Northern California.