Proponents of a plan to turn Chipman Middle School into a charter have turned in a proposal that, they say, offers the educational resources the school's students need to thrive without creating a financial hit to the school district.

The proposal is set to be formally presented to the school board at its meeting Tuesday, with a vote to come on Dec. 15.

The new Academy of Alameda Charter School would replace Chipman, which is faced with a federally mandated overhaul because students there have failed for four years to meet all of their testing standards under the No Child Left Behind law.

Facing imminent sanctions, the Chipman community took on the task of looking ahead.

"We think that we have found a better way to serve the interests of our incredibly diverse student body," Ron Whittaker, a parent with a seventh grader at Chipman, told the school board when he and other charter proponents handed in their proposal on Oct. 27.

The charter's founding board includes former school board trustee Bill Schaff, former state Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, former schools superintendent Ardella Dailey and Chipman's current principal, Judy Goodwin. More than a dozen educators are listed as lead petitioners.

Schaff said the school's founders are trying to address the needs of Chipman's students without causing a financial hit to the school district — a chief concern charter opponents often raise.

"We're trying to make this

In addition to adapting new instructional models, the charter's drafters are seeking to change the environment students would face, focusing on everything from a middle schooler's innate need to fit in — there may be uniforms — to healthy eating and even the colors students see when they walk the halls.

The charter petition offers specific plans for both low-achieving and high-achieving students, English learners and students with disabilities. (Under the charter plan, special education services would be provided by school district staff for at least the first year it is in operation.) The school also would seek to engage more with parents and with community groups, including the Boys and Girls Club of Alameda and the West Alameda Business Association, which would pair students with business people.

Students at the charter also would spend more time in the classroom than they do now, and they will be strongly encouraged to partake in after-school enrichment sessions the school would offer.

It would be open to students all over the state, and its founders are developing a specific outreach plan to attract a racially and ethnically balanced student population that is consistent with the neighborhood Chipman currently serves, Schaff said. He said the charters founders have asked that the school stay in the building where it is currently housed.

The school expects to enroll 600 students in grades 6-8 next year and 725 by the 2012-2013 school year. District Superintendent Kristen Vital said 573 students are enrolled there now.

Charter proponents are optimistic that their school will get the nod from the school board. Chartering schools has been an option the district has considered as part of its efforts to create a master plan for the district, and the proposal is a product of the district's need to make major changes at the school.

If approved, the charter would go into effect on July 1, 2010 and would be valid for five years. If it were not approved by the school board, district staff would need to write a restructuring plan for the school.

The 120-page proposal is on the school districts Web site, http://www.alameda.k12.ca.us.

Contact Michele Ellson at michele@theislandofalameda.com.