Charter school proponents await vote in Eugene district

Whatever the Eugene School Board decides today, the spotlight will be on Superintendent George Russell’s recommendations on how to close a projected $26 million budget shortfall.

But there’s another board vote slated tonight of utmost importance to three community groups trying to launch three charter schools — the Coburg Community Charter School, the College of Knowledge, and the International School of Modern Technology. All three submitted applications Nov. 15 and a public hearing was held Jan. 19.

Although it will, in all likelihood, cost the financially struggling school district more money, Russell is recommending that the board approve a three-year charter for the Coburg charter school proposal, citing the value to the Coburg community in retaining a school there. Coburg has had a local school since the 1860s, and Russell is recommending the closure of Coburg Elementary as part of his budget-slashing proposals.

Russell is recommending that the board not approve the other two proposed charter schools, however.

Mollie Smith, the mother of two Coburg Elementary School students and coordinator of the Coburg Community Charter School proposal, said proponents are thrilled that Russell is recommending approval of their charter school.

“It’s great news for us,” she said. “We’ve worked really hard in a short amount of time to put together a great proposal. Mostly, we’re excited to have a school still here for our kids.”

That, of course, is assuming that the school board follows Russell’s recommendation. Some members in the past have expressed concern about adding a fourth charter school to the district at such a financially difficult time. The three existing charter schools are Ridgeline Montessori and The Village School, both serving students in grades K-8, and Network Charter School, a school in downtown Eugene for students in grades 7-12.

With just 110 students, Coburg Elementary is the district’s smallest grade school and one of four targeted for closure next school year in Russell’s cost-saving measures. The charter school would be housed in the current Coburg Elementary School building.

The state Legislature in 1999 passed a law requiring local school boards to consider applications from private nonprofit corporations that wish to establish charter schools.

Charter schools receive public funds under a written agreement — a charter — that outlines student performance goals and educational services the school will provide. They are independent legal entities governed by their own boards of directors, and are excluded from many state statutes and rules. (For example, only half of a charter school’s teachers must be state-certified). Charter schools receive 80 percent of state per-pupil funding from the sponsoring school district, which retains the remaining 20 percent.

School districts cannot refuse a charter school application based solely on the fact that it will hurt the district financially, Eugene district spokeswoman Kerry Delf said.

There are seven criteria — most relating to level of community support and financial stability — that districts must analyze when reviewing charter school applications, and Coburg passed six of them, district budget manager Caroline Passerotti said.

The one uncertain criteria is: “Is the value of the charter school outweighed by any adverse impacts to the quality of public education of district students, such as enrollment, student-teacher staffing ratio, student learning and performance, expenditures for maintenance and upkeep of district facilities?”

“That finding is unclear for us,” Passerotti said. “And they passed all the rest of them. So it seems reasonable to approve them. We believe there is a substantial and unique benefit to the city of Coburg … which distinguishes it from the other two (charter school) proposals.”

The district estimates that approving the charter could result in the loss of 77 to 94 district students for 2011-12.

Neither of the other two proposed charter schools — the College of Knowledge, and the International School of Modern Technology, or ISMT — has identified a building site.

The College of Knowledge’s co-founders are teacher Sharon Dursi and dance studio owner Vivianna Marcel.

Marcel said the College of Knowledge would differ from the Network Charter School, which also enrolls at-risk teens, by providing a curriculum based on “credit for proficiency.” For example, students could earn credit by doing projects in the community such as getting a job, Marcel said. “It’s only limited by one’s imagination,” she said.

Arbrella Luvert, a for­mer Eugene School District teacher and administrator, is the co-founder of ISMT, which aspires to attract low-income and minority students.

Luvert said advocates will keep fighting to win charter status should the school board decline to approve the charter at its meeting tonight.

“Our hope is the board will reconsider once they follow the process and address our concerns,” Luvert said. “We believe the uniqueness (of ISMT) will stand. We just believe there’s room for another public choice.”