Encinitas district rejects Waldorf charter school petition

The Encinitas Union School District denied a petition for a new charter school within their district boundaries at an Aug. 19 hearing.

In coming to their decision, board member Marla Strich said they thoroughly reviewed North Star Waldorf Academy’s submitted charter petition, considered a detailed staff analysis and listened to all community input.

“While the Waldorf philosophy has a long history and has much to value, our role is to look at this particular charter petition and evaluate it according to the criteria set forth,” Strich said. “Given the substantial deficiencies outlined in the report and the unlikelihood of success based on a plan that is not viable, I move that we deny the petition.”

The motion passed with a unanimous 4-0 vote, President Marlon Taylor absent.

“While we are, of course, disappointed by the board’s decision, we remain proud of the tremendous community support that has gathered around North Star Waldorf Academy,” said Melissa Nilsen, the charter school’s lead petitioner, following the meeting. “Many Encinitas families have made clear their desire for more educational choices, and we believe our petition reflected a strong, thoughtful plan to meet that need.”

“We are currently reviewing our options, including an appeal, and will continue to do everything we can to bring tuition-free Waldorf education to North County.”

A public hearing for the charter petition was held earlier this summer on June 10.  At the meeting, 39 speakers voiced opposition to the charter school and while an estimated 20 people were in attendance in support of North Star, none spoke publicly. Nilsen said there was some confusion and miscommunication regarding the speakers.

The district received petitions opposed to the charter signed by 147 members of the Teachers of Encinitas Union and 67 members of California School Employees Association and its Classified of Encinitas chapter. Additionally, the board received 95 emails and letters with 91 opposed and four in favor of the charter.

At the Aug. 19 meeting, the 21 speakers were a mix of supporters and opponents of the new charter school.

“I’ve watched in wonder at the ways in which the Waldorf methods have instilled a deep love for learning, an innate sense of kindness to others, a deep love of music and the arts, reading, math and science,” said Juliana Schaefer, an Encinitas resident and grandparent of two Waldorf students. “Having a Waldorf School in the Encinitas Union School District would be a gift beyond measure, supporting diversity and the many ways of learning how to be living examples of inclusion and the beauty of loving kindness.”

The majority of speakers were opposed, arguing that there isn’t a need for a charter school in the district and that it would only be a drain on resources.

“Not this district, please,” said parent Mary Anne Mendenhall. “I would prefer that this happened in a district that’s failing children. I would prefer something like this not happen in a district where we have nine thriving schools with big dreams about doing even more for our students.”

Mendenhall reflected on the district’s vision of building up music and art, investing more in project-based learning and providing extra support for students who need it: “How could we ever do more if we have this problem in our district?”

As Encinitas is a basic aid district, it would be required to provide in-lieu property tax funding to North Star Waldorf. North Star would also have the option of applying to use district facilities if their enrollment has at least 80 students from the district.

Per the petition, North Star predicted a total enrollment of 172 students in the first year in 2026 and 224 at full capacity.

The staff’s analysis on the charter petition concluded that North Star’s financial and operational plan was unlikely to succeed and that the educational program was unlikely to meet the needs of all students or to be successfully implemented.

According to the staff report, the district is not positioned to absorb the “unbearable” fiscal impact of the proposed charter school: If every student projected to be enrolled in North Star is a district resident, the overall impact on the district budget would be 4%, or $3.4 million, of district revenues every year.

The report stated that this loss of funding would “undermine existing district services, academic offerings, and programmatic offerings because the district would simply be unable to afford to continue funding all such services and programs.”  The loss of revenue could result in the elimination of teaching positions, increased class sizes and the reduction or elimination of programs such as garden, choir, Film Guild and Farm Lab.

“When I read the staff report, I really wondered if anyone on the staff had actually read my petition,” remarked Nilsen. She said that the report contained a “blatant disregard for the truth” and included numerous false statements. “I don’t believe this process has been followed in an upright way as it could’ve been…Throughout the process we’ve been met repeatedly with hostility.”

Nilsen disputed the report’s claims that Encinitas could not withstand the financial impact and that there is no support for the school. Due to a miscommunication, she said her supporters did not speak at the June 10 hearing, however, there are dozens of Encinitas families who commute over 40 minutes to get to a Waldorf school and hundreds more who are seeking alternative educational paths.

“Waldorf is fundamentally different than any other public school model, that’s why I believe Waldorf school would be a complement to this district, it would not compete with it,” Nilsen said. “I’m continually surprised by the offense that seems to be taken by the desire to bring another educational model into what we’ve already acknowledged is an excellent district.”

She believed her petition more than met the legal requirements for approval.

In her comments, the district’s attorney Sukhi Ahluwalia, partner at Atkinson, Anderson, Loya, Rudd & Romo, said she was not surprised that the petitioners disagreed with the recommendations and findings but stated that the findings were factual, based on evidence and specially tailored to the charter petition that was received.

While there were a number of findings, Ahluwalia said the most significant one was the financial impact to the district. The district would be required to transfer funding for grade levels not even served by the district and for other basic aid district resident students who do not reside within the district. Unfortunately, she said, the state would not backfill those funds as it would for a local control formula-funded district.

“Stripping the district of its much-needed funding to serve its students, thereby forcing the district to cut teachers, reduce or eliminate programs such as intervention and enrichment, is directly contrary to the interests of the district community and does not support the approval of this charter,” Ahluwalia said.

Encinitas has some history with charter schools. TIP Academy, a charter school housed in trailers on the Ocean Knoll campus, opened in 2006 was shut down within two years, facing violations of mismanaged finances and conflict of interest.

In 2017, the SOUL Charter School petitioned neighboring San Dieguito Union High School District to open a 7th though 12th-grade school in Encinitas. The school board denied the petition but it was overruled by the San Diego County Board of Education, the first charter school approved on appeal by the county since 2003. SOUL ended up opening in Solana Beach but closed in June 2020.