Bullis wins round in dispute over alleged racial quotas

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

A judge has ruled against the Santa Clara County Office of Education in its ongoing feud with Bullis Charter School in Los Altos, which has been accused of catering to wealthier families and leaving special-needs students for public schools.

Bullis has fired back, arguing that the county office is imposing illegal racial quotas at the expense of Asian students.

Bullis filed a records request for the county office’s communications and demographic analysis regarding its contentious charter renewal in August 2024.

Bullis sued the county office for allegedly not fulfilling the request a month later.

“Because of the gravity and high-profile nature of the action to potentially deny the renewal of one of the highest performing public schools in the entire state, the records sought were certainly well-known to (the county office) and readily available to them,” the lawsuit said.

The county office filed a motion to dismiss the case on Feb. 19, arguing the demographic analysis was publicly available.

‘The people’s business’

Judge Hellen Williams ruled in favor of Bullis on May 30, citing the California Public Records Act: “Access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state.”

Case is headed to trial

Both sides will be back in Santa Clara County Superior Court on July 21 to discuss a trial schedule.

The records lawsuit is one of two cases between the county office and Bullis. Another suit stems from the county office requiring Bullis to develop a plan to “increase its enrollment of historically underserved student groups.” 

Racial quotas

Bullis attorney Lee Rosenberg said the county office is “insisting that BCS achieve de facto ‘racial quotas,’ but conveniently resists calling them that in light of the illegality of the term.”

Bullis has 62% Asian students, 17% white students and 5% Hispanic students. In comparison, the Los Altos School District is 40% Asian, 36% white and 10% Hispanic, the lawsuit said.

One in four students in Los Altos goes to Bullis, which is split between portables at two middle schools.

Bullis is a charter school. Therefore, the Los Altos School District transferred $10.7 million in property taxes to Bullis and provided $865,000 in portable classroom rentals last school year.