It has been almost two months since a petition to start a Mandarin immersion charter school in the Menlo Park City School District was presented. On Wednesday, Nov. 12, the school board will make a decision on whether to authorize the school.

The board is scheduled to take up the matter starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Encinal School Multi-Use Room at 195 Encinal Ave. in Atherton.

The proposed Menlo Mandarin Immersion Charter School would begin operations in the fall of 2015 with two classes each of kindergarten and first grade with a total of 100 students.

The charter school backers have asked the district for 10,000 square-feet of classrooms and other facilities.

While a large number of district parents and teachers have expressed opposition to the school, the board is limited by state law on the grounds on which it can turn down the charter.

A report prepared by a team of district administrators and consultants provides a number of grounds that the board could use to deny the charter petition.

If the charter school is not approved by the district, it could still end up operating there because a denial can be appealed to the county school board, and if the county board turns it down, to the state board of education.