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Frederick County parents Dave and Cindy Cundiff were very disappointed when — for a second straight year — the Frederick County Board of Education denied a proposal to create an all-girls charter school in Frederick County.

The proposal called for a school serving 360 students in grades seven through 12 and focusing on high-demand foreign languages, such as Chinese, Russian and Arabic.

The Cundiffs thought the EACH! charter school would have been perfect for their daughter, Christina, an eighth-grader at the Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School in Frederick.

"The smaller setting would have been less intimidating," Cindy Cundiff said. "She doesn't do good in big environments."

The Cundiffs homeschooled their daughter for years before discovering the Montessori school. That school only goes up to eighth grade, though. They hoped the EACH! charter school would give their daughter an option to continue what she started at the Montessori school. But the application was denied last week.

The Board of Education voted 4-2 to reject the proposal, an improved version of an application that the board rejected 6-1 in 2007.

The four members who voted against it said they were still not convinced that the proposal presented a viable high school program and solid plans for scheduling, staffing, accountability and testing. They also questioned the school's ability to serve struggling students and said it didn't serve an existing need in Frederick County.

"I am not confident that a decision to vote for this tonight would be in the best interest of Frederick County students," said school board president Daryl Boffman.

Cundiff said she was disappointed at the board's decision.

"I was very hopeful this year," Cundiff said. "It was very frustrating watching it at home."

Along with Boffman, board members Bonnie Borsa, Jean Smith and Katie Groth voted against the proposal. Leslie Mansfield and Michael Schaden supported it. Donna Crook abstained, saying she had some concerns but they were not enough for her to vote against the school.

Only Mansfield supported the proposal last year.

Borsa opposed the proposal most firmly, saying that the school failed to present a viable master schedule and did not have specific plans directed at student discipline, testing and accountability.

She was concerned that the school wanted to use artists as teachers, and said that may create a conflict with the Frederick County Teachers Association.

Borsa also said the school offered limited alternatives for students who cannot complete the school's program in six years. "The nuts and bolts just don't work out," she said. "The logistics are really not here."

For Angela Philips, a Frederick County lawyer and parent who developed both charter school proposals, the vote on Nov. 12 was a surprise.

"This feels like a moving finish line," she told the board last week.

Philips did not return calls this week to confirm whether she is now planning to drop the all-girls charter school idea or appeal the board's decision on a state level.