News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The ongoing contretemps over the fate of charter schools in Sisters took a combative turn this week as the founder of one charter school launched a drive to recall the members of the Sisters School Board.
Michelle Williams, who founded the Sisters Charter Academy of Fine Arts (SCAFA) three years ago, cited the board's "hostility" to charter schools and "financial irresponsibility" as reasons to seek recall.
Williams told The Nugget last weekend that she would file with the Deschutes County Clerk on Tuesday, February 16, to circulate a recall petition. The earliest a recall election could be held would be in May, but Williams said she was not certain she could obtain the necessary 564 signatures in time to qualify for that ballot.
The school board has terminated charters for both SCAFA and the Sisters Web Academy. Williams argues that the board has always been hostile to charter schools.
"Ever since the very beginning I was met with a lot of resistance from the school board," Williams told The Nugget. She said the charter school has operated "under an incredible cloud of negativity, a lot of it coming from the school board."
School board member Jeff Smith, one target of the recall drive, disputes Williams' depiction of the board's attitude.
"We as a board are sorry that the charter school wasn't financially viable," he said. "We believe that it is beneficial to have educational options in our community."
Smith noted that the board twice "stood by them (SCAFA) and gave them a chance to prove themselves. Each of the past two years, we have supported a waiver because they were close to the state required minimum (enrollment of 25 full-time students). Now they're not even close. I don't think it's fair to say that we're opposed to charter schools."
Williams sees the board members as "bullies" and says that it is financially irresponsible to forego approximately $300,000 the district receives in state funding to administer the charter school programs.
"I think they're there to have their position in the community, not to do great things for kids, and that's wrong.
"My beef is not with the school district," Williams said. "It is solely with the school board."
Board vice chair Glen Lasken said, "The reason we have taken steps to close the charter schools is because we are fiscally responsible. I'm disappointed (Williams) has taken this course of action. It's certainly her right to do so, but I stand by our actions and the process we went through."
Board chair Christine Jones said that the board had little choice but to terminate the charters.
"The recent letter that our district and others received from ODE (Oregon Department of Education) makes it clear that the sponsoring school districts could be left 'holding the bag' if the charters under their jurisdiction are not following ODE policies," Jones told The Nugget. "We have been proactive in initiating termination proceedings because we have not been able to verify to our satisfaction that the charters are indeed adhering to ODE's rules and regulations. We do not ever, ever want to find ourselves in a situation again where we need to repay money to ODE."
Contrary to impressions of hostility toward charter schools, Jones stated, "I'd like to emphasize that our school board continues to remain open to considering any charter application that offers a financially viable, quality education with full financial transparency and respects all of ODE's rules and regulations."
Smith, Jones and Lasken all said that should the recall make it to the ballot, they will fight to retain their seats.
Williams told The Nugget that she does not want to serve on the Sisters School Board herself.
"No, I do not intend to run for the school board," she said.
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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