Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
People Involved in Education President Jay Jackson announced Monday night that his group had signed a lease to use Sweet Home Church of Christ at 18th and Long for Sweet Home Charter School, which would open in September.
Both Jackson and School District 55 Supt. Larry Horton gave reports to the District 55 School Board during its regular meeting on Monday night.
Jackson and Horton met on Friday to talk about the contract status, Horton said, and Jackson also met with Lynn Stauffer to go over students who attend or are on a waiting list to attend Sand Ridge Charter School.
The District 55 board had asked for a list of students who might potentially leave the district’s regular schools to attend the new charter school.
Thirty-seven students were listed attending or waiting to attend Sand Ridge, Horton said. Of those, 15 were from inside the Hawthorne attendance boundaries. The numbers decreased from there to seven at Foster and less elsewhere.
The numbers are only for kindergarten through fourth grade, the initial grades that will be offered by the charter school, Jackson said.
That total changes almost daily, Horton said.
On Monday, Jackson said Sand Ridge received four more registrations.
The interest appears “spread out,” Horton saids. “So it doesn’t look like any major impact at this time to any one school.”
Jackson and Horton both asked their respective attorneys to get together and come up with language to address the District 55 board’s two main concerns, Horton said. The district wants language to prevent the commingling of funds from different districts and to protect against liability over potential incidents in other districts, so a lawsuit over an incident at Sand Ridge in the Lebanon School District, for example, does not grow to include Sweet Home.
“We’re doing what we can to hold the attorneys’ feet tot he fire and get this language finished,” Jackson said.
The contract is under a May 15 deadline for completion, and the district board wants PIE to identify a facility by then.
Jackson said PIE does have a signed lease for the Church of Christ facility, a separate building originally built to be a school.
“That’s a major piece in place,” Jackson said. Monday was the first public announcement that PIE had a facility, and it could affect who wants to attend.
PIE still needs inspections and approval from permitting authorities.
Board members present were Jason Redick, Ken Roberts, Dave VanDerlip, Don Hopkins, Leena Neuschwander, Mike Reynolds, Chairman Scott Proctor, Diane Gerson and Ken Roberts.
In other business, the board:
– Horton told the board that initial estimates for a surveillance camera to watch the skate park were low.
“I received some dismaying information when I talked to (City Manager) Craig Martin the other day,” Horton said. The $3,000 estimate for a camera did not include recording equipment or wireless equipment. The bid came back at about $10,000.
The district has offered $1,500 toward the camera, which would be monitored at the Sweet Home Police Department.
Maintenance Supervisor Ron Andrews volunteered his time for installing the camera, Horton said, and that will save some $2,000.
If Martin can figure out where to get the additional money, the camera will be purchased, Horton said.
– Accepted the resignations of Oak Heights teacher Jennifer Jackson and Career Center Coordinator Charles Thompson.
– Hired Melissa Severns as a permanent replacement for Jackson.
– Chose not to require two additional days at the end of the year to make up for snow days when school was closed.
The transportation supervisor, L.D. Ellison, will work out “snow routes” to keep schools open even if higher elevations are impassable to buses, allowing low-lying residents to send their children to school, Horton said. Parents of children at higher elevations would probably find ways for their children to reach school, likely safer than using the buses in the snow.