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Hollister Prep School will have to wait until May 27 to know if the school will be allowed to continue sharing space with R.O. Hardin Elementary School.
Trustee Cheryl Rios was absent from the April 22 Hollister School District board meeting and four trustees on hand were split in their vote on the use agreement between Hollister Prep and the district.
The school board is expected to revisit the matter at its next meeting on May 27.
Trustees Jan Grist and Elizabeth Martinez voted against the agreement at last month’s meeting.
Explaining her opposition, Grist told the meeting she’s concerned about overcrowding and traffic.
“We had a very serious walking accident here at the beginning of the year because the traffic is impacted. We cannot continue the way it is,” she said.
Martinez has served on the board since 2012 and voted in favor of the facilities use agreement almost every year it’s been on the table. She did not comment on the agenda item.
Hollister Prep is a Prop. 39 school that is a part of Navigator Schools, which are free public charter schools. Passed in 2000, Prop. 39 passed requires public school facilities to be shared with charter schools. Under Prop. 39, Hollister School District has to find a space for the charter school even if its school board decides not to renew its agreement with R.O. Hardin.
Hollister Prep has shared facilities with R.O. Hardin since its founding in 2013.
Two R.O. Hardin teachers spoke at the April 22 meeting about issues with sharing the space.
First grade teacher Darci Cristobal spoke about the limited space on campus. She said that the art teacher prepares for her classes in a storage closet shared with the janitor, and that there’s no spare classroom space.
“We hope that you can please help [Hollister Prep] relocate to a space of their own so that we, R.O. Hardin, can grow and prosper in our own right,” she said.
Fellow teacher Ethan Cristobal also spoke, pointing out the strain from the number of students on one campus.
“We’re the largest campus because with (Hollister Prep’s) students and our students there we’re at like a thousand or more students on one campus and we feel it every day,” he said.
Grist also said Hollister Prep “has had a lot of time to find a place. This has been going on for a long time.”
Earlier in the meeting, Navigator Schools Superintendent and CEO Caprice Young gave an update on Hollister Prep’s search for a new site. She said that they’re currently focusing on acquiring the former Kmart building.
Young said Hollister Prep was looking to continue using the R.O. Hardin site for the 2025-26 school year and estimated the earliest the school could obtain a new lease would be in the 2027-28 school year.
A few factors affect Hollister Prep’s ability to find a new site. One is cost, and the other is finding a site that the city will approve.
Navigator Schools Director of Engagement and Partnerships Kirsten Carr spoke about the difficulty in finding a new space for Hollister Prep.
“Unfortunately, we have not been able to find an external facility that we would be able to afford,” she said.
Carr added that Hollister Prep recognizes the strain that sharing a campus puts on R.O. Hardin.
“We don’t like having to be a burden on R.O. Hardin’s campus,” she said. “We want to provide the space and the programming that our students, Hollister students, deserve.”
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