The San Diego Unified School District plans to spend $2.2 million to transform three existing campuses into magnet schools. KPBS reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.
Birney, Barnard and Florence Griffith Joyner elementary schools will become magnets next school year. Parents are excited because the schools will now offer a number of different programs such as Mandarin Chinese and International Studies.
But not everyone likes the $2.2 million plan.
School board member Katherine Nakamura says the district is just trying to prevent students from going to charter schools. She calls it a gimmick that won't pay off.
Nakamura : It’s about keeping our chunk of the pie from the charter schools, that's what that is about. So I think giving teachers a raise and keeping good teachers -- I can think of a lot of other things that I'd rather spend the money on.
District officials say they're just trying to provide more options to parents looking for diverse student programs.
Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
