THERE must be a quota on innovation in the East Side Union School District, and this year's has been filled.

In the fall, the district opened Evergreen Valley High, a high-energy, technology-driven small high school. But last week, a majority of trustees rejected a proposal for a charter school with a similar philosophy and a proven record.

The school would be a spin-off of Leadership High School of San Francisco, a successful and ambitious school serving minority students.

Fortunately, the trustees don't have the final word. Leadership can appeal to the Santa Clara County Office of Education and then to the State Board of Education. Given Leadership's record, a charter will be granted. Nonetheless, the trustees' vote was the wrong signal to send to a school that could tremendously benefit children.

Leadership Public Schools wants to open a school in 2004 for 450 students based on the San Francisco model. There, nearly every student goes on to college; over 90 percent pass the high school entrance exam as sophomores; 80 percent are minority students.

A charter school is an independently run public school that is freed from most state regulations. Leadership's curriculum would be rigorous, but it would offer tutorials for English-language learners.

Leadership's founder, Mark Kushner, aims to open 25 charter high schools in California's urban areas over the next decade. East Side's board should have been grateful that he chose their district to be number three. After responding to initial concerns, Leadership satisfied all of the program requirements under the state charter law.

But at a school board meeting last week, retiring Superintendent Joe Coto surprised Leadership by raising two objections. The 1 percent of Leadership's budget that the district is allowed to collect doesn't cover administrative costs, he said. And the requirement to provide a facility for the school would drain East Side's capital budget. The district, he said, already provides rent or construction money for three charters.

These may be legitimate concerns, but they're not legal grounds for denying a charter, as Coto should know well. And Kushner, who is negotiating to lease space from an elementary district, said Leadership might not even ask East Side for building money.

Three trustees sided with Coto; only Manuel Herrera and Craig Mann, who called the denial an embarrassment, voted to grant the charter.

Small charter schools like Leadership High offer a vital alternative to mega-schools, like East Side Union's 4,300-student Independence High. School boards should welcome them, not place obstructions in their way.