D-11 considers charter

A proposed charter school wants permission to apply to the state Charter School Institute as well as to Colorado Springs School District 11.

Ray Wallander, representing Patricia Miranda Charter Academy, told D-11 board members Wednesday night that charter school organizers have not decided whether they will apply only to the state, only to D-11 or to both, but that they want options.

D-11 has exclusive chartering authority, meaning any proposed charter school must ask permission to apply to the state institute.

Charter schools are public schools run by parents, teachers or community members under a contract with a school board or the state Charter School Institute.

There are several factors to consider in deciding whether the Patricia Miranda Charter Academy should be allowed to apply to the state institute, said Glenn Gustafson, D-11’s chief financial officer, including time spent evaluating charter applications that come to the district, possible financial losses and having test scores be included as part of D-11.

Board members will likely vote on the matter at their next board meeting, Aug. 29.

Patricia Miranda Charter Academy is similar to Transition 2 Success, a proposed charter school denied by the Charter School Institute last year and by D-11 in 2005.

When D-11 saw the application in 2005, the school planned to take only ninth- and 10th-graders, which concerned some in the district. Now the proposed school would start there but grow to include 11th- and 12th-graders.

Classes would be based around themes, such as food science and nutrition, horticulture, and urban planning, Wallander told the D-11 board.

“The school is built around the sciences,” he said.

The school plans to be located in downtown Colorado Springs and to draw students from throughout the region.

The school is named after Patricia Miranda, the first American woman to receive an Olympic medal in wrestling.

Miranda and Wallander first worked together when Wallander ran summer camps for at-risk students and used Olympic athletes as mentors.

“We think she can be an inspiration to a lot of kids,” Wallander said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0394 or shari.griffin@gazette.com