The board voted 4-0 Tuesday against Global Tides' petition, saying the organization's plan to start a cyber charter school aimed at students with poor attendance was unsound, was not likely to be implemented as planned, and did not include a reasonable description of some parts of its plan.

Board President David Haubert said no one from Global Tides attended the meeting. Trustee Jennifer Henry was absent.

If the petition had been approved, Global Tides could have opened a virtual charter school serving students from throughout Alameda County and bordering counties, including Contra Costa, San Mateo, San Joaquin and Santa Clara. Before they can open, charter schools -- public schools that get state funding -- must be approved by traditional school districts or agencies.

In September, Global Tides, which is linked to an education group funded by Walmart founder's Walton Family Foundation, submitted 91 petitions for approval in 14 strategically located California counties -- including a petition to every district in Alameda County. Districts have 60 days to vote on the petitions.

Officials with Global Tides said overall local districts have not been supportive.

No school district in the state has yet to approve a petition, though charter school organizers say a few might. Charter school organizers would like one district in each county

Global Tides plans to serve about 100 kindergarten through 12th grade students per charter school petition, equaling about 1,400 statewide, starting in fall 2010. Organizers said they wanted to assist, not compete, with districts to serve at-risk students. Students would get free laptops, printers, phones and Internet connections. There would be no tuition.

Marco Salazar, a vice president of Charter School Development Systems of Newport Beach, an affiliate of Global Tides, said officials did not expect opposition from school districts. Charter School Development Systems and its partner company, Ed Futures, run and help start charter schools nationwide.

"It's become a big legal and political battle," said Salazar, who said he had a scheduling conflict with the Dublin meeting and instead attended another district meeting where he said the response has been more positive.

He said school organizers thought Alameda County would be very receptive because of high dropout rates in some parts of the county.

"We were really disappointed of Alameda County in general," he said

Despite striking out with a number of districts so far, Salazar said it is likely that anywhere from one to three districts will sign off on the petition. He declined to name the districts.

He is considering resubmitting the petition to some districts, improving on areas officials found fault in, and said he will probably appeal the Alameda County denials to the Alameda County Office of Education, citing the generally negative responses so far. If the county board again denies the petition, Global Tides can appeal to the state Department of Education.

Salazar said Global Tides wanted to go to straight to the state originally for blanket approval, but was told that approach required them to be an existing school.

Still, the large number of petitions has upset some officials in several school districts, who say it is a waste of resources at a time when money is tight. The Dublin school district hired attorneys to analyze the petition at cost of about $5,000.

Reach Eric Louie at 925-847-2123.