DEAR PROBE

Q

Why is the IV Press not covering Imagine School’s appeal denial, which happened last week? Could it be because IV Press reporters have family ties to Imagine? — Concerned Citizen

A

Honestly? The editorial department wasn’t aware a decision had been reached until this reader brought it to our attention on Monday. Our report then appeared in Tuesday’s edition.

In summary, our report said the Imperial County Office of Education Board of Trustees elected not to take action on the Imagine School’s appeal of the El Centro Element School District’s denial of its charter renewal. That decision not to decide effectively served as a rejection of the appeal, meaning the school has one more shot at getting its charter renewed: an appeal to the Charter Schools Division of the California Board of Education. Because the board asks for appeals to be submitted for review three months in advance of the meeting at which the case would be heard, it appears the school would have to file that appeal by May 29 to get on the agenda for September. As for the suggestion this newspaper was somehow trying to protect the school by not reporting the decision sooner, that’s difficult to answer while still remaining polite.

For starters, to the best of our knowledge, no one on the IVP staff has family working at Imagine School, and even if they did, it would have had no bearing on whether we reported on the status of the school’s charter.

What would have been the point? The reality and impact of the ICOE board’s actions wouldn’t be altered simply because they didn’t receive newspaper coverage. Imagine would be in its present situation regardless.

The fact is, there are a lot of moving parts involved in covering local news, and sometimes stories get overlooked, at least until we’re made aware of them and we can give them the attention they’re due.