News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A smoldering confrontation between the Sisters School Board and the charter Web academy it oversees came to a head Wednesday night as the board voted unanimously to initiate termination of Sisters Web Academy's charter.
In his motion to instruct the school district's attorneys to terminate the contract, board vice chair Glen Lasken said that "there's at least a half-a-dozen areas where they've breached the contract."
Lasken cited the transfer of students last fall out of the Sisters Web Academy into other Web academies operated by Tim King, proprietor of the charter school organization AllPrep. That transfer, Lasken said, appears to have been made without parental permission. (King earlier told The Nugget that verbal permission was obtained and that it is "an interesting question" whether permission is actually necessary.)
Lasken also said that there is evidence that the academies are co-mingling funds.
Lasken and the board further argue that AllPrep changed leadership and curriculum without consulting the district; set arbitrary limits on enrollment; and failed to provide timely and accurate financial and enrollment information to the district.
Lasken said that the Sisters School District is responsible for overseeing the charter and he is "concerned about being the sponsor of a charter school that may be violating state law or federal law."
The 60-day termination process allows AllPrep to "cure the deficiencies" cited by the school board or to appeal the board's decision to the Oregon Department of Education (ODE).
The school board last November sought an opinion from ODE on the propriety of the Web academy's actions. The reply the district received last week did not give clear guidance to the board.
"It's been very disappointing that ODE hasn't provided clarity and direction for us," said board member Cheryl Stewart. "I think that's their job."
Stewart said she believes "we have to take this action," but she expressed hope that regardless of the outcome of the dispute with AllPrep, online education services will continue to be provided in the district.
Board chair Christine Jones said the board's move does not necessarily have to spell the end of Sisters Web Academy.
"I think the Web academy provides a very valuable education alternative for kids," she said. "I see this as a way of getting legal clarity on the issues we are facing."
There is a financial impact on the district if the Web academy is dismantled.
According to Jones, the district retains about $1,455 of the $6,000 in Average Daily Membership (ADM, roughly per-student) state funding provided for each student enrolled in a charter school. The Web academy currently enrolls 104 students. Sisters has approximately 150 ADM enrolled in all charter programs. While the retained funds are designated to cover the costs of administering charters, in practice they exceed that requirement and end up increasing the district's general fund.
In addition, the Sisters School District accesses foreign language software Rosetta Stone and remedial reading software Odyssey under the Web academy's license.
However, Jones cautioned the board against weighing financial considerations in any decision about the future of the Web academy. She said the district must ensure that the contract and the law are being adhered to and the board's actions cannot be driven by concerns about financial impact.
"I think that's very dangerous," she said.
The board's actions regarding Sisters Web Academy may also impact the district's other charter school, Sisters Charter Academy of Fine Arts (SCAFA).
That financially struggling charter school has proposed moving under the AllPrep umbrella as part of a "hybrid" model of education that would combine online learning with classroom education. According to King, AllPrep has itself been moving in that direction.
"What we're trying to do is become a blended model - some would call it a hybrid model," King told The Nugget last month.
That model combines online education with "AllPrep options" such as field trips, group study, classes meeting a couple of times a week and other activities that are not conducted online.
The Sisters School District has also moved to terminate SCAFA's contract on the grounds that it is not financially viable. SCAFA appealed the board's notice of termination in a hearing Monday afternoon before the school board.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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