Board sets policy on charter schools

Although Sisters School District has no charter schools, and none appears to be in the offing, the school board recently adopted a policy that would allow such schools under certain conditions.

The issue arose after officials of Bridges Academy, a private school east of Sisters, talked with state officials about possibly converting their institution into a charter school. The local academy has not pursued the idea and has submitted no application to the Sisters School Board.

The Oregon School Boards Association encouraged all districts to adopt a policy in case they receive applications to form a charter school and the Sisters board adopted a two-page policy statement at its February meeting.

The statement says, "The district recognizes that public charter schools offer an opportunity to create new, innovative and more flexible ways of educating students. Public charter schools shall demonstrate a commitment to the mission and diversity of public education while adhering to one or more of the following goals."

Nine possible goals follow, beginning with "Increase student learning and achievement" and ending with "Create innovative measurement tools."

Much of the policy reiterates the state law authorizing charter schools that was adopted by the 1999 Legislature. There are 23 such schools now operating in Oregon.

Charter schools are essentially private schools operated by a variety of possible sponsors who feel that their educational approach offers something that at least some students can't get in standard public schools.

The state gives these schools 80 percent of the per-student support it gives to public schools.

Charter schools are not normally operated by school districts but they must receive approval from the local school board. One of their advantages, in the eyes of their advocates, is that they operate free from many of the state requirements and regulations that apply to regular schools.

The only charter school in Central Oregon today is Rimrock Academy, a middle school with 51 students in Bend. It is up for rechartering in July but is considering a change of status that would see it become a contracted alternative school. That would bring in more state money but would also subject the school to more state regulation.

Many public school advocates fear that charter schools weaken local public schools by siphoning away both students and dollars. If a charter school draws 20 students who had been attending nearby public schools, the school district loses 80 percent of its state funding for those students, or about $4,000 per student in Bend or Sisters.

State law tries to protect public school districts by giving local boards the power to evaluate charter applications on the basis of "whether the value of the public charter school is outweighed by any directly identifiable, significant and adverse impact on the quality of public education of students" in the district.

Sisters' new policy draws directly from that provision, saying: "The Board will not approve any public charter school proposal when it is deemed that its value is outweighed by any direct identifiable, significant and adverse impact on the quality of the public education of students residing in the district."