Schools' relationship under review

Sisters School District and Sonrise Christian School have suspended a program in which for several years the district has paid part of the salaries of some Sonrise teachers. Leaders of both systems are conducting a review to make sure that their practice does not violate state laws or regulations.

Sisters School Superintendent Ted Thonstad said his interest was triggered by the filing of an unemployment claim by one of the teachers last summer. Thonstad, who is new to the district this year, said that when he learned about the arrangement, "I said wait a minute, we're going to take a look at this before we go any further with it.'"

For his part, Sonrise Board Chairman Terry Denzer said, "The whole thing that happened in the Baker-Union (Education Service District) made our people back off and say, now wait a minute, we want to make sure that this whole process is forthright. We just want to make sure it fits within the realm of the definition of home school services in the state."

The Baker-Union ESD is being investigated by the state for alleged funding and contracting improprieties.

As Denzer described the Sisters-Sonrise arrangement, several Sonrise teachers each year for the past five or six years have had portions of their salaries paid by the school district.

For example, Denzer explained, if a teacher's salary is $3,000 a month, the school district might pay $700 for three or four hours' work a day. Sonrise would cover the remaining $2,300. This reduces the school's personnel costs.

"But the school district has a much greater advantage because it gets the state ADM" (state per-student funding, based on "average daily membership") for a prorated share of the students taught by the teachers in question.

"It's a win-win situation," Denzer said.

Both men emphasized that the teachers receiving partial pay from the school district have taught only nonreligious subjects. Thonstad said they have taught such things as math, spelling, physical education and reading.

Denzer agreed, saying the teachers have dealt with "a lot of different subjects where the Christian approach is not involved. Obviously, we want to keep that separation there."

Sonrise offers classes from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. The classes are held in two buildings owned by Sisters Community Church at Highway 242 and McKinney Butte Road. Denzer said the school pays rent for the buildings but otherwise has no relationship with the church. Sonrise is an independent, nondenominational religious school operated by a local board.

Denzer, who is the sales manager for Bird Gard in Sisters, said he has been chairman of the board for all but the school's first year, "and we're in our eighth or ninth year." He said the school "started with a group of home school parents" who eventually "gathered together in a facility and hired a teacher. It was pretty small, we had 18 kids then. Now we have 112 or something like that."

The current "evaluation," as Thonstad described it, focuses on state regulations that govern home school services provided by public school districts. Many Oregon school districts, including Sisters, provide extensive services to home schoolers within their boundaries.

Denzer describes the teacher-pay arrangement that has been in effect in Sisters as falling within the category of home school services even though Sonrise is a formal, private school: "It's a creative approach under the home schooling services banner..."

Thonstad's concern has been reinforced by the fact that the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is currently conducting a review of school district practices across the state in dealing with both home schools and alternative schools. The welter of laws and regulations applying to those categories is confusing to state and local officials alike. The tangle has become even more complicated by the emergence of the charter school option.

Cliff Brush, an ODE official who deals with all types of nontraditional education, met with Central Oregon school superintendents in Redmond last month. He indicated that the state is trying to get all of its rules and regulations in this area straightened out while at the same conducting a survey and assessment of what local districts are doing.

Since the Sisters-Sonrise teacher pay program was halted early in September, Thonstad has consulted with two attorneys -- Neil Bryant of Bend and John Witty of Redmond, who is employed by the High Desert Education Service District (ESD) -- as well as with ESD officials.

He and Denzer agree that the program will resume only if it receives the blessings of both the ESD and the state.

"Once we get all of those things in a row perhaps we may reactivate the program," Denzer said. "It may happen this year but we're not in a huge rush. Both of us would like to do it because it is mutually beneficial, provided we follow all the rules and regulations."