Vista Charter Public Schools v. Cal. State Bd. of Ed. CA2/5

── Vista Charter Public Schools v. Cal. State Bd. of Ed. CA2/5 ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: June 04, 2026 Category: General Filed 6/4/26 Vista Charter Public Schools v. Cal. State Bd. of Ed. CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FIVE VISTA CHARTER PUBLIC B342712 SCHOOLS, (Los Angeles County Plaintiff and Appellant, Super. Ct. No. 23STCP04041) v. CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant and Respondent. APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles, Curtis A. Kin, Judge. Affirmed. Young, Minney & Corr, John C. Lemmo and Adam D. Afshar, for Plaintiff and Appellant. Len Garfinkel, General Counsel, Paul Gant, Assistant General Counsel, and Virginia Cale, Deputy General Counsel, for Defendant and Respondent.  Julie Ashby Umansky, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel for California Charter Schools Association; Law Office of Ricardo J. Soto, Ricardo J. Soto, as Amicus Curiae. _____________________________ I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Vista Charter Public Schools appeals from the trial court’s denial of its petition for traditional writ of mandate. According to plaintiff, the court erred by concluding that defendant California State Board of Education did not abuse its discretion when it affirmed the denials of plaintiff’s new charter school petition. We affirm the court’s judgment. II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Petition On August 17, 2022, plaintiff submitted a petition to establish a new charter school (the petition) to the Los Angeles Unified School District (the District) seeking to open and operate a charter high school, Vista Legacy Global Academy (Vista Legacy), within the District. The proposed school would become the sixth charter school operated by plaintiff in Southern California. B. District Decision On October 11, 2022, the District’s governing board held a public hearing on the report prepared by District staff 2 recommending denial of the petition and adoption of the staff’s proposed findings made pursuant to Education Code section 47605.1 On November 15, 2022, the District held a board meeting at which it adopted the staff recommendation and denied the petition. The District based its denial on three separate written findings under section 47605, subdivision (c).2 1. Section 47605, subdivsion (c)(2) Under subdivision (c)(2) of section 47605, the District determined that plaintiff was “demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program set forth in the petition.” According to the District, the petition either omitted or failed to disclose significant facts which “raise[d] questions and concerns about the veracity and accuracy of the information presented by [plaintiff] to the public, stakeholders, and charter school authorizers about its schools and programs.” Among other inaccuracies and omissions, the District found that, although the petition stated plaintiff began operating another charter high school in Orange County in 2021, data from the California 1 All further statutory references are to the Education Code, unless otherwise indicated. 2 As discussed below, subdivision (c) provides that a school district cannot deny a petition for the establishment of a charter school “unless it makes written factual findings, specific to the