A new San Fernando Valley charter school may be closer to finding a home.

The Los Angeles Unified School District made a preliminary offer in February to Valley International Preparatory High School to share North Hollywood High’s campus next school year. But after North Hollywood students and VIPHS leaders expressed concerns, the district made a “final offer” last week for VIP to share Chatsworth Charter High School’s campus instead. VIP has until May 1 to accept or decline it.

“My main concern is that we reach some closure on this issue,” said Robert Moore, a VIP founding director and treasurer of the school’s board of directors. “I believe the uncertainty about where we’ll be located is unsettling to everyone involved.”

California’s Prop. 39, which voters approved in Nov. 2000, requires that school districts offer equitable and adequate unused public space to charter schools in their areas.

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LAUSD officials did not respond to emailed questions about why Chatsworth was selected over North Hollywood in their latest offer to VIP.

The principal of Chatsworth Charter High School referred an inquiry about the matter to district headquarters.

LAUSD green-lighted VIP’s charter petition in December for five years but the school has yet to find a home ahead of its fall opening.

Moore said that the Chatsworth campus is not ideal for their school because it’s further from the Van Nuys area, where a significant portion of families planning to enroll students live, than other sites.

“We’re actively working with the district to determine if there is any other option,” he said. “We have the view that the district is interested in our success and wants to work with us to make sure we have a site that is suitable.”

VIP High School is an independent charter school, while Chatsworth Charter High School is LAUSD-affiliated, meaning it has closer ties to the district.

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VIP is not pushing to share a campus with North Hollywood High largely due to its concerns over a planned modernization project there that would require the charter school to leave after one year, he added.

The initial offer to share the North Hollywood campus prompted an online petition spearheaded by students. They feared losing space for student programs and services, such as their music program and college center. That petition drew more than 2,000 signatures protesting the plan.

Classrooms at a school that do not have a teacher with a roster students is space that is considered vacant and available for “co-location” under Prop 39, according to United Teachers Los Angeles.

Ella Michaels, a North Hollywood High senior who helped organize opposition to the move, said her community recently received word from the district that North Hollywood would not be offered to any charter school for co-location in 2018-19.

“We’re incredibly glad that we’re going to be able to save all the programs we would have lost,” Michaels said. “We’re very very thankful that LAUSD was willing to listen to students from both of these communities and search for a better option.”

Among the challenges VIP is facing is the anticipated enrollment of its new school. The new charter school is seeking enough classroom space for as many as 400 students. Chatsworth Charter High School has about 1,900 students currently enrolled, according to district officials.

VIP has also been looking into the possibility of opening on a private school site but that, too, has been challenging, Moore said.

VIP High School was founded by parents and educators of students being forced out of iLEAD North Hollywood – a Van Nuys-based independent learning center with a classroom component that’s slated to close in late June – due to a California Supreme Court decision, according to VIPHS officials.

That 2017 ruling reiterated that all charter schools are required to be located within the geographical jurisdiction of their authorizing body.

VIP’s program will provide individualized college preparation and guidance, high-end extracurricular and elective classes and “a culture that values collective well being,” according to the school’s officials.

Moore added that if the Chatsworth school is the only place VIP is able to open, they will make it work.

“We will work with our families to maximize the ease with which they can get there and we will be offering a program that will be attractive to a large number of people,” he said.