Anderson Union High School District v. Shasta Secondary Home School

Charter schools are “public schools funded with public money but run by private individuals or entities rather than traditional public school districts.” (Today’s Fresh Start, Inc. v. Los Angeles County Office of Education (2013) 57 Cal.4th 197, 205 [ 159 Cal.Rptr.3d 358 , 303 P.3d 1140 ] (Today’s Fresh Start).) In 1992, with the enactment of the Charter Schools Act of 1992 (Ed. Code, § 47600 et seq.) (Charter Schools Act), California became one of the first states in the country to authorize charter schools. In 2002, the Legislature amended the Charter Schools Act to add geographic restrictions for the operation of charter schools. (See §§ 47605, subd. (a)(1), 47605.1.)

This case presents an issue of statutory interpretation of the scope of these geographic restrictions. Specifically, the issue presented is whether the comprehensive statutory scheme governing charter schools permits a charter school—that is authorized by a school district and provides support for nonclassroom-based independent study—to locate a resource center outside the geographic boundaries of the authorizing school district but within the same county.

As we explain, applying well-established rules…