PLEASANT HILL -- The effort to convert Antioch's Dozier-Libbey Medical High School into an independent charter rests in the hands of the county Board of Education following a lengthy and emotionally charged hearing Wednesday.

Trustees expect to decide May 21 whether to uphold or overturn the Antioch school board's unanimous vote to deny the charter petition by teachers.

The specter of Dozier-Libbey becoming a charter has divided the Antioch community, and it did so again Wednesday night.

Over 250 people packed the Pleasant Hill Middle School multiuse room Wednesday, with the room split down the middle. On one side sat Dozier-Libbey teachers, students and parents, many wearing black T-shirts that read "Dozier Libbey Medical Charter" on the back. Antioch Unified administrators, teachers and some community members sat on the other, most with white shirts that read "Our Community, Our School."

Jeanne Stuart-Chilcote, parent of a sophomore at Dozier-Libbey Medical High School, shows her support for the school becoming an independent charter as folks line up to share their two minutes of opinion during the Contra Costa County Board of Education meeting at Pleasant Hill Middle School in Pleasant Hill, Calif., on Wednesday, May 7, 2014. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

More than 95 people spoke, with slightly more than half in support of the conversion.

Lead petitioners from the medical-themed magnet school made the pitch that autonomy is needed to expand its programs, allowing the school to create its own curriculum and grading policies and set staffing. They also rolled out some of their ideas, including increasing the ratio of computers to students, courses such as forensic pathology and medical America and a middle college program.

"We are teaching students to be prepared for college and careers in the health care field. This requires specialized curriculum and support," said teacher Kasey Graham.

Graham pointed out that Dozier-Libbey recently earned a silver medal from US News and World Report as one of the top 700 high schools in the nation.

"As proud as we are to have achieved this status, we also believe we shouldn't settle for silver. Reaching for gold means more students meeting college readiness standards," she said.

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Charter supporters make case for autonomy for Antioch's Dozier-Libbey High