The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education voted unanimously on Oct. 1 to approve Board Member Nick Melvoin and Board Vice President Jackie Goldberg’s resolution to provide funding for grant opportunities to ease the burden of charter school co-location for district schools.

Co-sponsored by Board members Mónica García and Dr. George J. McKenna III, the resolution will provide $5.5 million for co-located campuses to apply for projects that will support the learning and environment for all students on a campus – charter and district. This funding will come out of bond money that has been set aside to support charter schools.

“No one likes co-locations, but we can do more to provide support to our district schools by easing the burden of sharing a campus,” Melvoin said.

“We can help the day-to-day operations run a little more smoothly and maybe even promote a new spirit of collaboration at the co-located schools.”

“This resolution is about supporting collaboration and improving school environments,” Goldberg said. “We want to find out if there are ideas out there about how to work together. An adversarial relationship between charters and district school is never good for children. This resolution takes us in the right direction.”

“Success at every one of our schools begins with making sure every classroom is a great learning environment,” Superintendent Austin Beutner said.

“This will help provide additional resources at schools.”