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• Micke Grove Park opens anew

• Galt to honor Stephanie Brown-Trafton tonight

• Lockeford bikini bar shuts down; now will become country bar

• County office yanks charter for Galt's Nueva Vision

• Lodi Christian School putting controversy behind

• Planning Commission hearing on Wal-Mart Supercenter set for Sept. 24

• Regional Roundup

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (169)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (73)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (50)
• Public health care is a Christian option (34)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (20)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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County office yanks charter for Galt's Nueva Vision

Three weeks before its planned opening, the Sacramento County Office of Education has denied final approval for Nueva Vision Charter School in Galt because the number of students could not be confirmed.

Confirming how many students would attend the school was one of three conditions the county and the school agreed upon earlier this year.

Rosendo Garcia

Nueva Vision founder Rosendo Garcia said he still has hope to meet the school's Sept. 15 opening date and said he will go all the way to the state level to ensure it happens.

In April, the charter school received approval to open on three conditions: that it provide special education services; that it have a county-approved building; and that the school have at least 100 students whose parents will tell the county about their intention to go to Nueva Vision.

Dave Gordon

Dave Gordon, superintendent of the county office of education, said that not only were the other conditions also unmet, the last one completely stymied opening plans. He said that without a certain number of students confirmed 30 days before opening, the district couldn't be sure the school could stay in business. As of Aug. 15, only 54 students were confirmed.

Garcia takes issue on how the process to confirm student enrollment was handled. Phone calls were made to all 100 families in Spanish to accommodate non-English speakers to confirm whether they had signed up for Nueva Vision.

But the questioning five or six weeks ago went beyond a "yes" or "no" question, Garcia said, and parents were also asked if they had secured transportation to the new school or informed their old school that they weren't returning.

"It was not fair ... We were already set up for failure," Garcia said, adding that many of the parents are recent arrivals to the United States. The extra questions made the parents nervous, and they pulled their children from Nueva Vision, Garcia said.

Gordon, however, said no agreement was made on how the verification process would work or what questions would be asked. The county had four Spanish-speaking employees make the calls and none reported any issues.

"I still have a hundred children ready to start school Sept. 15th," Garcia said. "I still have hope."

The district sent a letter to Nueva Vision Aug. 19 essentially closing the approved charter and recommending reapplication for next school year. Nueva's attorney responded with a letter requesting the school board remove the conditions previously agreed upon between both parties.

"These letters speak for themselves," Gordon said Tuesday. "They accepted the terms of the memorandum (in April) until they couldn't meet them."

Even in July, the office of education was concerned with the number of students. At that time, of the 86 registered by Nueva Vision, Gordon said only 37 students could be confirmed.

Still, Nueva planners forged ahead.

"In the last two to three months, you wouldn't believe how much work we have done," Garcia said.

In just the last few weeks, he and the governing school board have hired eight teachers and a principal. Required textbooks for all of the freshman and sophomores are in hand, and 40 computers and 120 uniforms have been purchased so there would be no cost to the students.

And, Garcia said, 100 students are registered and ready to start school in less than three weeks.

If members of the county office of education won't change their minds, Garcia said he plans to contact Jack O'Connell, state schools superintendent.

Garcia, who supervises teachers at California State University, Sacramento, has been working with other community members to open a charter school in Galt for more than four years. He said such a campus would include specialized instruction for Hispanic students who, according to Garcia, are at risk of dropping out, becoming pregnant or joining a gang.

"We are all in a system to try and help get programs off the ground," Garcia said.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.