Authorities in California have given necessary
permission to open a Punjabi charter school in the Sacramento Valley, a move welcomed by a large segment of Punjabi population in the United States.
A charter school is a tuition free, non-sectarian public school that is usually
administered by an independent non-profit corporation with funding from state and federal
governments.
The Sacramento Valley Charter School (SVCS), the non-profit Punjabi organization,has received the permission to operate an elementary school in West Sacramento beginning in September 2011.
"This is a great day for the Sacramento area and the Punjabi community," said Dr.Narinder Dhaliwal, chairman of the SVCS Board of Directors.
"We are all very proud to be part of the first charter school in the United States established by the Punjabi community," said Amar Shergill, an attorney and SVCS board member.
"We will now move quickly to incorporate the school, set up the campus and hire school staff. We expect to hire our principal immediately," he said.
Harjinder Mattu, SVCS board member and a principal for the Twin Rivers Unified School District, said credentialed teachers will present a California standards-based education curriculum including Punjabi language studies.
"The school will be open to all local residents and will not discriminate on any basis.
All students will receive free lunch and free transportation to and from school," said Mattu.
"SVCS is eligible to receive federal and state grants of over USD 500,000 plus regular
per-student funding pursuant to the statutory requirements of the California Department of
Education. In addition, the Sacramento Sikh Temple has graciously sponsored our efforts
to date," said Iqbal Badwalz, Chartered Public Accountant and SVCS board member.
According to a media statement, SVCS will be located at a campus to be established adjacent to the Sacramento Sikh Temple. During the first year of operation, SVCS will serve Sacramento area students in Kindergarten through Grade 6.
However, Grade 7 and 8 will be added in the 2012 and 2013 school years, respectively.
The Sacramento Valley Charter School's motto is 'Learn, Compete, Excel'.