Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Following a first-quarter review of the Sweet Home Charter School, District 55 Supt. Larry Horton found several points in the contract where the school was not in compliance with the contract, he said.
Since that review, completed recently, the Charter School has complied with all of the points, Horton said reported to the school board Monday night.
At board meetings, since the formation of the school this year, Horton and board members have talked about an ongoing problem with communication, information the district had requested but the Charter School had not yet provided.
The idea behind the review, which lists a dozen points requiring improvement and reminders of deadlines, was to try to keep communication going between the school and the district, Horton said. “We’re wanting to keep the communication lines open. That’s what this was regarding.”
The Charter School is operated by People Involved in Education, which also operates the Sand Ridge Charter School in the Lebanon School District.
Horton praised the Charter School’s secretary, Tavia Thornton for her excellent work with the School District.
“Other than the paperwork, I’ve had a lot of positive comments from parents, and they seem to be very happy with the program,” Horton said of the Charter School.
At Monday’s District 55 School Board meeting, Horton told the board that the communication lines have been open since the completion of the review.
Jay Jackson, PIE Board president, was not able to attend the board meeting, Horton said, but wanted to assure board members he would answer any questions regarding this. Horton said board members could call or e-mail Jackson. He also told board members he could relay questions. Charter School parent Sherrie Ingram said she also would relay questions.
Horton’s report listed nine points of violations and offered three reminders of approaching deadlines.
Horton is satisfied with the arrangement now working between the Charter School and School District, he said Monday night. “I feel that it is much better than it was in the past.”
Jackson has a new e-mail address since the last board meeting, and he is now responding to e-mails and phone calls, Horton said. “At this point, all things have been addressed to my satisfaction.”
“A lot of it’s a byproduct of trying to get a good communication line opened up,” District 55 board member Ken Roberts said.
PIE had planned to have a full-time administrator working at the Charter School, but with enrollment lower than projected, Horton said, the school hasn’t been able to hire one as it cuts down on costs to keep money in the classroom.
“It’s pretty obvious,” District 55 board member Dave VanDerlip said. “It’s been quite difficult to get the information from PIE. It’s left a sour taste in my mouth.
“In the interests of good relations, hopefully in the future, we’ll get more timely responses to requests for information.”
This issue is done as far as he is concerned, VanDerlip said. He is now more concerned about moving forward.
Among the points of violation, now resolved, were the following:
– The district had not received a copy of PIE’s bylaws nor a copy of its articles of incorporation with a deadline of July 15.
– The district had not received an updated PIE budget, with a deadline of July 15.
– The district had not received some records necessary to meet the district’s reporting obligations to the Oregon Department of Education.
“We asked Jay Jackson (PIE Board President) for staffing information over four weeks prior to an ODE deadline,” Horton said. “This included multiple e-mails and four phone calls to Mr. Jackson’s secretary. We did not hear back from Mr. Jackson. In fact, we did not get any cooperation until Nov. 13 when I spoke to Mr. Jackson after the Sweet Home School Board meeting. We had a highly qualified teacher report due to ODE on Nov. 15.”
– PIE was to furnish the district with copies of written policies and procedures related to operations or educational program by the first day of school.
– PIE was to furnish a list containing the names and job descriptions of all of its employees, indicating date of initiation of the criminal background investigations that are required by Oregon law.
– PIE is required to provide the district with a list of teachers that are certified and those who are registered.
– All PIE teachers must comply with “highly qualified” requirements, Horton said, but a district employee had to go determine the status of Charter School teachers to determine two were highly qualified, and the other two were placed on plans to become highly qualified.
– No evidence had been reported to prove that a separate local board for the Sweet Home Charter School was meeting.
– PIE is supposed to provide minutes from its board meetings.
The report also included the following three reminders:
– PIE is supposed to notify the district’s individual education plan team leader Elena Barton when any student is identified as being on a plan, Horton said. To date the district has initiated all IEP meetings, but it may not be that PIE has been able to identify any students on IEPs.
The district wanted to remind PIE to check for possible IEP status along with each student application.
– The first-quarter financial report should be provided to the district by Jan. 30, Horton said, including quarterly income and expense reports, balance sheets showing liabilities and assets and any accounts payable statements showing any accounts past due.
– A budget from PIE also will be required by April 1.