Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The proposed Sweet Home Charter School is a go.
The District 55 School Board agreed Monday to complete a contract with People Involved in Education and drop its requirement that PIE form a separate nonprofit corporation to operate the new school.
The requirement has been a sticking point in completing the contract since the beginning of the year when PIE President Jay Jackson objected to it. In June, eight members of the School Board were split evenly on whether to drop the requirement.
Monday night, the board voted 8-1 to drop the requirement and finish the contract. Voting to finish the contract were Ken Roberts, Leena Neuschwander, Don Hopkins, Mike Reynolds, Scott Proctor, Diane Gerson, Jason Redick and Dave VanDerlip. Jeff Lynn voted no.
The board wanted the requirement to prevent commingling of funds among PIE’s different schools and to limit liability for the Sweet Home district and the Sweet Home charter school, Hopkins said. The first reason was resolved early.
In May, the board required, by an 8-1 vote, that PIE form a separate corporation before it would approve a contract. Last month, the board split 4-4 on an alternative that would require PIE to carry minimum liability insurance amounts and incorporate new language requiring notification about lawsuits and suspension of payments to PIE if those were exceeded.
PIE had previously proposed insurance of $4 million per incident and up to $10 million aggregate.
“My way of looking at it, basically we were dealing with it from a standpoint of advice of our attorneys,” said Don Hopkins, a board member. The board is statutorily required to protect the interests of the district. Forming a new, separate nonprofit corporation would provide one additional layer of protection for district assets.
Hopkins changed his mind after considering his time on the District 55 Board.
During 11 years on the school board, Hopkins said he could refer to six lawsuits.
“Not one of those suits that were brought against the district came close to even the half million dollar mark,” Hopkins said. School District 55 carries a policy of $5 million per incident and $10 million total for more than 2,400 students and hundreds of employees.
“I personally feel that requiring the 4 and 10 from PIE would be a reasonable amount in terms of numbers,” Hopkins said. The district had three attorneys and an insurance agent told the board to look at its exposure. In terms of the six lawsuits District 55 has faced in 11 years, that exposure has all been less than a quarter million dollars.
“The exposure is minimal,” Hopkins said. For as many as 244 students and 30 staff, “don’t you think that’s adequate coverage?”
Jackson also alluded to the fact that “by having separate corporations, you may not have the continuity of education programs (you would have) by having one corporate body,” Hopkins said. “I think when it’s as successful as it is, I think that’s important for the kids.”
He also pointed to fairness to youngsters.
“The 2,400-plus students (in District 55) … probably 99 percent of those kids know what school they’re going to be in next year,” Hopkins said. “They know what classroom they’re going to be in and who there teacher’s going to be. Why are we denying the few kids that go to charter schools and their parents?”
“Tickled,” said Brandy James, a charter school supporter. “I’m thrilled. Personally, I believe there’s change coming to the school system, and this is just the first step.”
It’s a big thing, he said. It’s getting parents involved.
“It feels good to feel like we can get to work,” Jackson said. It had gotten to the point where everyone “felt like we’ve beaten this thing to death.”
PIE will get to work in its new facility, “obviously, quickly,” Jackson said. “Admittedly, we have a lot to do in a short amount of time.”
PIE has a lease agreement with the Church of Christ at 18th and Long for the church’s second building, which was constructed to serve as a school.
Jackson signed a copy of a three-year contract and delivered it to the board. That contract, he said, was a copy of the last one district attorney Peter Dassow sent to him. Dassow was to double check that copy, and district officials would sign it.
With a conditional use permit in hand after Monday’s Planning Commission meeting and a contract with the board approved, Jackson is ready to get on to more practical issues, such as setting up classrooms, getting inspections, rewiring the new school building for a computer network and wiring some fire and security systems, some of which is already done.
The church facility has room for at least five classrooms, Jackson said. It will include kindergarten through fourth grade, with 18 children per classroom. The kindergarten will be split into two sections. PIE plans to add grade levels in coming years.
PIE has not advertised yet, but it has been receiving applications for teachers and the administrator position, Jackson said. Initially, he will be administrator at Sweet Home Charter School with a transition to another administrator after PIE hires one.
PIE is accepting applications now for next school year, Jackson said. PIE is anticipating starting school on Sept. 5.
“Right now there’s kind of one big waiting list,” Jackson said. Until he talks to Sand Ridge Charter School students and families from Sweet Home, he doesn’t know how many of them will want to transfer to Sweet Home.
Some families with older children may prefer to leave their younger children at Sand Ridge too, Jackson said.
Jackson is working on two waiver requests, he said. The first would allow Sand Ridge students from Sweet Home to transfer to Sweet Home Charter School next year without going through the normal lottery process. The second would allow students from any district the same opportunity to enroll in the school as local students. The waivers must be jointly filed by the district to the state Board of Education for approval.