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Converted Concord Charter School To Be First Of Its Kind In Bay Area

CONCORD (KCBS) – The first high school in the Bay Area to be converted to a charter school should be in business by late summer after charter school advocates finally won approval from the Contra Costa County Board of Education.

The school's supporters could not get the Mt. Diablo Unified School District Board to sign off on their plan, so they took the matter to the County Office of Education, where they won approval.

"It means that we are no longer a school with the Mount Diablo Unified School District," said parent and advocate Alison Bacigalupo. "We will be our own school, with our own governing board."

KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:

She said that the new Clayton Valley High charter School in Concord is precedent setting.

"Conversion charter high schools have been fairly well-known down in southern California for the last 10 or 12 years, but this would be the first one in the Bay Area," said Bacigalupo.

District officials claim the new charter high school will drain finances to the tune of at least $1.7 million. However, Bacigalupo said that charter school funding will protect the integrity of education programs.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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