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Board hears charter plans

Developers will have to come before a board to negotiate grants

By Dana Hayes
The Statesman Journal
September 15, 1999

Think of it as a first date.

The Salem-Keizer School Board on Tuesday met some people who want to develop new charter schools within the district, under the law passed by to 1999 Legislature.

If plans for the 21^st Century Schoolhouse and the Alphabet House go forward, these people will be running publicly funded independent schools within a district.

This is pathfinding work according to Wink Miller, assistant superintendent.

Many of the rules on charter schools are being written by the Oregon Department of Education.

“We think we know about where the rules are going to land, “ Miller said.

Tuesday’s introductions were an informal get-to-know-each-other-session.

People who want to create charter schools must first seek a planning grant from the Education Department, which does not require district OK, Miller said.

Late in the process, the developers will have to come before the board to negotiate the implementation grants.

Board member Bonnie Heitsch urged district administrators to establish well-defined criteria for charter schools, and to do it soon.

“That way, everyone’s expectations are the same, so there are no misunderstandings and missteps,” she said.

“I’d recommend we begin that dialog as soon as possible.”

Phyllis Guile, an administrator helping organize the district’s charter school programs, said Salem-Keizer could have an advantage over other districts when it comes to establishing those criteria.

The Education Department has hired Joni Gilles as a consultant on the Charter Schools. Gilles most recently served as principal of Salem’s Howard Street Charter School, which was a model for much of the Legislature’s decision making this year, Guile said.

Gilles has been advising the school district as well, she added

The founders of 21^st Century Schoolhouse, Andrew Goldstein and Molly Kellar, began five years ago as a 10^th grade program focusing on environmental sciences at South Salem High School.

By 1997, they had expanded into an international educational program that links Oregon students and teachers in 11 countries.

It subsequently moved from South Salem: now it’s a part of Aztec Street Academy and Woodburn Success School, both in Woodburn. Its students attend an international youth summit on the environment set for Sept. 29 to Oct. 7 in Perth, Australia.

If the 21^st Century charter proposal is accepted the program would return to Salem and the focus on the certificate of mastery, serving ninth and 10^th grade students at first, and later expanding to 11^th and 12^th grades.

“The idea is too help the kids who are at risk, so that they can meet the state standards,” Goldstein said.

The Alphabet House is the brainchild of Kathy and Bill Williams. Since 1987, they have been offering services and information to people with developmentally delayed children and premature infants.

Leslie Harrison, educational director, said that the charter school proposal calls for an elementary school on Portland Road NE and a middle school in a location to de decided. “We want to create an inclusionary school for developmentally fragile children, as well as all other children,” she said.

If approved, the school would include a clinic and medical supplies for students who often can’t be served by a traditional school.

contact: school@communityschoolhouse.org