Sycamore Valley Academy essentially "rents" our campus from Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) as a result of California Proposition 39. Prop 39 requires that public school facilities should be "shared fairly among all school pupils, including those in charter schools" (Ed Code 47614). We thank VUSD for working with us to negotiate an affordable and equitable way to use their district-owned facilities at 6832 Avenue 280. We love it here!

 

Our school is able to occupy district-owned facilities at an affordable cost due to Proposition 39, a law passed in 2003 that imposed a mandatory duty on school districts to provide their charter school students facilities that are "reasonably equivalent" to those used by non-charter students within the district.

 

Prior to the passage of Prop. 39, charter law permitted charter schools to use, at no cost, school district facilities which the district was not using for instructional or administrative purposes or which were historically used as rental properties. Districts sporadically complied with this permissive law and charter schools' access to adequate facilities became one of their biggest challenges. In 2003, when the proposition passed, this changed.

 

Proposition 39 was written to ensure that all public school students share equally in the buildings constructed with state facilities dollars. The bargain made when Prop. 39 was passed by California voters was to reduce the threshold for the state or a local school district to pass a facilities bond from two-thirds to fifty-five percent, a considerably easier standard to meet. In exchange, charter school students were to be given equal access to the facilities constructed with state and local bond funds, if charters are able to meet certain eligibility requirements.

 

The law serves to ensure "that public school facilities should be shared fairly among all public school pupils, including those in charter schools." Prop. 39 requires school districts to make "reasonably equivalent" facilities available to charter schools upon request. The charter school facilities must be:

• Contiguous (located together, not spread across campus or multiple sites)

• Similarly furnished and equipped

• Located near the area in which the charter wishes to locate

School districts are allowed to charge charter school for use of district facilities under Prop. 39. The law provides two alternatives for the district to charge charter schools annually for the use of facilities: a pro rata share charge or an increased oversight fee.  In SVA's case, we pay an increased oversight fee.

 

We are able to provide bus transportation for the convenience of our families. We currently have 2 buses and 5 pick up/drop off locations. For more information about bus transportation, click here.