With districts facing declining enrollment, does Monterey County need more schools?

Celia Jiménez here, thinking about the decision the Monterey County Office of Education Board of Trustees will make on Wednesday, Jan. 14: whether to approve a county-wide charter school. 

On the day of a hearing for the proposal, Dec. 17, more than 100 people showed up. The vast majority who spoke opposed Navigator Charter Schools, a network of public charter schools based in Hollister, many saying it would financially hurt school districts. The California Teachers Association is gathering signatures opposing the charter school's approval; nearly 1,000 people have signed.

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District and Salinas City Elementary School District projected losses of $12 million and $9 million, respectively, if the petition moves forward. 

“That would be devastating,” MPUSD Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh told me in an earlier interview, and added it could translate to losing 120 teacher positions at MPUSD. SCESD Superintendent Rebeca Andrade said, “If that happens, that means that we will have to close programs. There will be less staff, there will be less opportunities than we already are providing.”

Navigator wants to create Monterey County Prep, a county-wide charter school, which would have three TK-12 charter school locations serving Salinas, Marina/Seaside and Soledad/Greenfield, starting in the 2026-27 school year.

Following the public hearing, MCOE staff released a report and findings of facts. (The document is also available in Spanish.) The staff reviewed programming, family mobility, equity, access and more. 

While MCOE staff is not recommending approval or denial of Navigator’s application, the outlook doesn’t look favorable for the charter school. 

“Petitioners’ plan is largely vague, untargeted, and requests a great amount of flexibility from the County Board to actualize their vision of expanding operations throughout Monterey,” the report states. “While the County Board may find that the reasons presented in the petition are accordingly sufficient, MCOE staff raise these concerns as potential bases for finding that the petition does not provide sufficient rationale for approval as a countywide benefit charter school.”

According to the report, Navigator isn’t providing a detailed description of what local districts are lacking, while its high school model doesn’t offer something different from what districts are currently offering, including early college access (several school districts offer dual enrollment programs), skill development or graduation planning.

Navigator sent notices to nine school districts that may be within its boundaries. “All nine of these districts’ enrollments have been declining since at least the 2019-20 school year,” the report states, making it less likely to implement the charter schools successfully. (MPUSD closed three schools in the past few years.) 

The main question, beyond what type of school is better, is whether Monterey County needs more schools when several school districts are facing declining enrollment. 

The board meets at 3pm Jan. 14 at the MCOE office (901 Blanco Circle in Salinas).