Dear MATES Supporters,

As we expected from the very beginning, the MATES Petition was denied by the CVUSD Board of Education on Wednesday in a 4-1 vote, with Mike Dunn being the only Board Member in favor of the MATES Petition. It was clear from the discussion and comments that the Meadows site played a large role in the Board's decision since they want to rent the site to a third party to generate income for the District. Our attorneys have advised us that the conversion charter laws concerning the facility, as currently written, provide a very strong basis for MATES to keep the Meadows site, although it may require some litigation to keep it.

Please go to our "download" page, to view the MATES Response to the Resolution of the CVUSD Governing Board's denial of MATES Petition. The MATES Petition is solid, accurate and viable. The MATES educational program outlined in our Petition is derived directly from our National Blue Ribbon and three-time California Distinguished Meadows Elementary School. The current Meadows teachers who helped earn these distinctions played integral roles in the planning and drafting process for the MATES Petition. In their Resolution to deny MATES, the CVUSD Board was merely manufacturing excuses to not approve MATES out of a fear that we will be extremely successful and consequently, they will lose students to our school.

On a positive note, the MATES Board has already made several contacts with staff at the Ventura County Board of Education. They have been very helpful and their offer of guidance through the county process has been promising. The MATES Board will be making some minor revisions to the charter petition and plan to submit to the county within three weeks. We will also be submitting our Facility Request to keep our Meadows site.

Hope you are all having a great summer!

Marlo