Group Asks Menifee District to Allow New Charter School to Open

Heritage Classical Charter Schools (HCCS) presented its petition Tuesday night to the Menifee Union School District (MUSD) Board of Directors, asking for approval to open Menifee Valley Preparatory School.

Pending the approval from MUSD, Menifee Valley Preparatory School plans to open its campus Fall 2014 starting with 208 students, in grades K-3. The petition for MVP was submitted to MUSD on February 28 and it was 110+ pages in length, with an additional 300+ pages of appendices and parent signature pages.

During the Board Meeting, Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone cited the reasons that he believes HCCS is a reputable educational entity that will provide a solid education to Menifee’s students and mentioned Temecula Preparatory School, also operated by HCCS, as an example of its sound, classically-based program. He also said that all of the local county supervisors have written letters of support for MVP, which cumulatively represents over 2.3M people.

Menifee Mayor Scott Mann also attended and encouraged the MUSD Board of Directors to vote “Yes” and approve MVP. His reasons included a growing Menifee community which needs more schools and the positive economic implications that MVP will bring. He stated that he plans on drafting a ‘Resolution of Support’ for MVP to submit to the Menifee City Council to vote on Wednesday, April 2.

Over 100+ parents, children, and community members were in attendance to demonstrate their support for MVP, wearing red t-shirts and picketing.  Fifteen local parents made passionate speeches about “why” they would like MVP to receive approvals. Many wanted a “choice” of the type of education their children would receive.

Heritage Classical Charter Schools’ team presented its case and cited that the main reason that MUSD should approve Menifee Valley Preparatory School is due to “choice.” Parents have a right to choose as evidenced by two legal cases. The first is the 1923 case of Meyer vs. The State of Nebraska, and also as recently as in 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right to choose when it issued the following statement in Washington v. Glucksburg – “In a long line of cases, we have held that, in addition to the specific freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights, the "liberty" specially protected by the Due Process Clause includes the rights . . . to direct the education and upbringing of one's children.”

Menifee Valley Preparatory School was previously denied a charter by MUSD in August 2013, citing reasons such as, “The petition fails to provide a reasonably comprehensive description of all required elements of a charter petition,” and “the petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program presented in the petition.”  HCCS submitted a second, new charter petition in February 2014, addressing all of the specific details requested by MUSD.

According to Headmaster Scott Phillips, J.D., “We’re (HCCS) humbled and grateful for the opportunity to present our petition to MUSD. We have a solid program and a strong core team going into it so I have full confidence that we can make MVPS as successful as Temecula Prep. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ‘Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.’ This is what we hope to achieve with Menifee Valley Preparatory School. We’re overwhelmed and excited by the amount of support that we’ve received from the community of Menifee and local, elected officials.”

Menifee Valley Preparatory School has received letters of support from numerous elected officials, such as: Assemblymember Marie Waldron, Assemblymember Melissa Melendez, Supervisor Jeff Stone, Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, Supervisor Marion Ashley, and Menifee Mayor Scott Mann.

Menifee Union School District plans to rule on the petition at its Tuesday, May 6, 2014 Board of Directors meeting.

About Menifee Valley Preparatory School

Menifee Valley Preparatory School is in the preliminary stages and is seeking approval from the Menifee Union School Board to open its campus in fall 2014. Pending approval by MUSD, it will be a K-3 public, non-profit, tuition-free charter school that maintains high levels of excellence in education due to its robust curriculum based on a classical model and founded in virtue. It is supported by Heritage Classical Charter Schools.

Menifee Valley Preparatory School has garnered tremendous parent support. It currently has 447 followers on Facebook, received 525 preliminary applications, and 668 parents who have subscribed to its email distribution list.

Its curriculum and program will be modeled after Temecula Preparatory School, which in 2012 earned the title of a California Distinguished School and has been named by US News and World Report as one of “America’s Best High Schools.” For more information, visit TPS’ website at: www.temeculaprep.com