Borrego Sun - Since 1949

San Diego Unified and Grossmont Union districts are suing the Julian Union School District and two of its charters, for what they say violates the law, by operating centers within their boundaries.

Among the issues raised in the lawsuit is whether Julian's charters can legally populate the county with satellite campuses, or "resource centers," in other districts without first notifying them and providing an address and information about the facilities they plan on using. Both districts have lost students and state attendance revenue to the charters.

Districts can receive up to 3 percent of a charter's revenue to offset the cost of providing oversight and other services. In the 2014-15 school year, Julian took in $787,887 in revenue from charter schools. The district's total revenue that year was $6.2 million.

Courtesy of the Julian Charter School

The increased revenue stream, has seen a slew of costly litigation between districts, as charters and resource centers are authorized by other small East County districts, including some that candidly acknowledged the arrangements were forged mostly for the money.

Indeed, about 20 percent of students in San Diego Unified have turned to charters, with the district projecting that figure to climb to 30 percent in 10 years - largely due to the popularity and growth of independent-study charters, including those located in other districts.

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation in 2014 that would have imposed restrictions on where charters can be located, instead assigning a team to research the matter. So far, no report or update has been issued.

The San Diego Union Tribune has produced a full report on the subject http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jul/11/julian-set-charter-school-trend/