The Central Academy of Arts and Technology in Bakersfield has been approved for charter school status by the Kern County School Board by a vote of 5 - 2.
In August of 2022, a similar petition put before the Bakersfield City School District Board was denied by a nearly unanimous vote.
At a Kern School Board meeting on January 10, 2023, both supporters of the new charter school's development and those who were against it voiced their opinions.
Standing opposed to the charter school was local activist Dolores Huerta, who said that committing public education funds to a private school will undermine Bakersfield's public institutions.
In favor of the charter was Melissa Alsop, a Bakersfield parent, who says the school will bring more educational opportunities to a city that sorely needs them.
