Frequently Asked Questions About the DUSD & CSArts Partnership
How did the partnership between DUSD and CSArts-SGV come to be?
Duarte Unified School District (DUSD) approved the charter petition for the California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley (CSArts-SGV) on June 30, 2016. The charter petition and related agreements for the lease and special education were board approved by a unanimous 5-0 vote by the Duarte school board members. The sitting board members at this time were Ken Bell, Reyna Diaz, Doug Edwards, Tom Reyes, and Cheryl Taylor.
This vote also included approval of:
Charter Facilities Agreement and Ground Lease
CSA-SGV Charter Petition 2017-2022
DUSD-CSA-SGV Special Ed MOU
This decision was reached following a 9 month process that included a series of public meetings, over 50 focus group sessions, a survey of the entire Duarte community that returned over 4,200 responses to gather stakeholder input. It also included a visit conducted by the Duarte school board members with teacher, parent, and partner representatives to engage with the OCSA leadership and view the Orange County campus in action to visualize what the CSArts-SGV programming would offer.
This partnership became a strategy contained within the five-year plan known as the Competitive Advantage Plan which our district adopted with approval by the Duarte school board on July 21, 2016, with a 5-0 unanimous vote by the members sitting at the time who were Ken Bell, Reyna Diaz, Doug Edwards, Tom Reyes, and Cheryl Taylor. The exact wording of the approved strategy was:
“Partner with California School of the Arts, to be known as CSArts San Gabriel Valley, to create a landmark and replicable compact between a school district and a public charter school.”
Do students need to have an interdistrict permit to participate in the CSArts-SGV Conservatory program?
Students participating in the DUSD/CSArts Grade 7-8 joint program who do not live in the DUSD attendance area or whose parents do not meet the Allen Bill requirements must have an interdistrict permit. DUSD is the recipient of the ADA for every student who attends our district on interdistrict permit. Students attending 9-12 grade at CSArts-SGV do not need an interdistrict permit.
Part of the charter requires CSArts-SGV to pay DUSD an annual 3% Oversight Fee. What is this?
CSArts-SGV provides DUSD with a 3% oversight fee annually based on their Grade 9-12 ADA. Charter oversight fees are typically 1% when a district school site is not part of the agreement. However, in an agreement such as the one with CSArts-SGV where a school site is leased, the oversight fee can be as high as 3%. CSArts-SGV pays a 3% oversight fee and a $1 "good faith" lease payment to DUSD in order for DUSD to receive this fee.
Why does DUSD defray the cost of Conservatory for participating students in Grades 7-8 by approximately $1,000 per student?
As established within the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reached between CSArts-SGV and DUSD, the district agreed to defray the cost of the conservatory program provided by CSArts-SGV by $1,000 per student. The district retains the rest of the per pupil ADA which equates to approximately $9,000 per student. Approximately 90% of the students that participate in the Conservatory program attend on an interdistrict permit. This means without the partnership, these students would not be transferring into our district and the district would not be receiving any additional ADA.
Does DUSD provide transportation from the Academies to CSArts-SGV for students in Grades 7-8 to attend Conservatory?
Yes, however, not just students participating in Conservatory are transported. Starting in 2019, 6th Period Elective classes held at Duarte High School (DHS) were added for students in Grades 7-8. This provided the opportunity for the district to increase elective options, foreign languages, and leveled math courses for students from every Academy. Transportation for all of these students is provided Monday-Friday. Following 6th Period, the students participating in Conservatory walk to the adjacent CSArts-SGV campus. In 2019-20, there were 300 students enrolled in a 6th Period elective class at DHS. In 2020-21 there were 203 students enrolled in a 6th Period elective class at DHS. Due to COVID-19, for 2020-21, students have been in distance learning and transportation is not needed.