RAMONA - Sun Valley Charter High School teachers, parents and students didn't get the answer they were hoping for at an impassioned board meeting Thursday night, but trustees proposed a remedy for the five-year-old school's chronic budget problems and to keep the school open.

The Sun Valley board voted unanimously to hire a Ramona-based certified financial planner to prepare a comprehensive report detailing the charter school's financial situation.

The report, expected to be ready in mid-January, will be used by the Ramona Unified School District to determine if the school is fiscally sound, and by Imagine Schools Inc., a non-profit charter school operator that runs 39 schools in ten states, to decide if it will incorporate the school into its operation.

Trustees have said the school's financial troubles are the result of a lack of funding because of low enrollment. In 2003, Ramona Superintendent Peter Schiff recommended that the district revoke the school's charter, citing "fiscal management and a failure to meet generally accepted accounting principles," but trustees voted 4-1 not to revoke the charter, saying they wanted to give the district's sole charter school the chance to succeed.

Many attendees at the meeting said they had hoped trustees would give them a definitive answer about the fate of the school. At least one teacher told the board that the staff members deserved to know whether the school would remain open and if they would still have jobs after the semester ends Jan. 25.

"We need to know," history teacher Mike French said. "We have to look out for ourselves. I understand (the board) is under the gun, but (teachers) may need to be looking for jobs."

Nothing concrete has been decided, but if Imagine takes over the governance of the school, it will also pay off the school's debts, and eventually build new facilities for the school, Sun Valley board President Helene Radzik said.

As of Thursday, Sun Valley was operating with a budget deficit of more than $11,000, according to a financial statement prepared by Principal David Tarr.

Before Imagine will commit to a partnership with Sun Valley, the company needs assurance from the school district that it would let the school amend its charter to allow Imagine to take over governing responsibilities, and time to review the school's certified financial report, according to an Imagine representative who spoke at the meeting.

Still, many students and parents said they have been uncertain of the school's future for too long and pressed trustees to set a deadline.

"We were told at the last meeting that we would know by Dec. 21 if we were staying open. So will you know on Friday if we're staying open?" a senior girl stood and asked the board as a handful of students sitting cross-legged on the floor around her applauded.

Radzik said no decision would be made by Friday, and added that the board had never committed to a Dec. 21 deadline.

Rhona McNally said through tears that she had pulled her senior daughter, Megan McNiff, out of Sun Valley on Monday and enrolled her in a district home-school program because she was worried that the school wouldn't reopen after the semester ended.

"Oh, it sucks that I had do that," McNally said. "It's the hardest thing ever. (My daughter) was so happy here, and her grades were improving all the time, but everything has been so tumultuous that I didn't feel like I had an option."

McNally said she would re-enroll her daughter if the school would confirm that it will remain open at least through the end of the school year.

McNiff, 17, said Sun Valley was the first school she felt successful in because the teachers really cared about her and the students were like a "close-knit family."

"I hope to transfer back as soon as my parents feel like it's okay for me to. I would love to graduate from Sun Valley," she said.

- Contact staff writer Darryn Bennett at (760) 740-5420 or dmbennett@nctimes.com.