D-11 school may lose its charter

Emerson-Edison Junior Charter Academy is in danger of losing its charter, and the school could be restructured or even closed next year because of low test scores.

The Colorado Springs School District 11 board on Wednesday voted 4-3 to approve the transfer of $36,700 to pay for a state-mandated restructuring plan. The plan must be submitted to the state by Jan. 7.

The school serves just under 400 students in grades six through eight and is run by the New York-based Edison Learning company. The company also runs Roosevelt-Edison Elementary School, which has met performance standards.

The board action Wednesday was triggered when Emerson did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the sixth year in a row. Schools that receive federal Title I funds because they have a large percentage of poor students are closely watched under the rules of the federal No Child Left Behind act.

Board members weren't happy that the district was being asked to foot the bill for a failed charter school.

"Let the school fail, close the school and reopen it as a District 11 school of innovation," board member Sandra Mann said. "We've known over the last two or three years that it's going down the tubes.

"But they're (Edison) making money. We shouldn't have to pick up the cost."

Mann was joined by board members Charles Bobbitt and Bob Null in opposing the expenditure.

Although no one from Edison or the Emerson school community spoke at the meeting, several parents from Russell Middle School did. The district buses 218 students to Russell who live in the Emerson attendance area but don't want to go there.

If those students return to a district-run Emerson, Russell might not have enough students to support its arts and technology programs, said Anita Slaugh, a Russell parent. "We want to be involved in this conversation because it affects us," she said, noting that D-11 has four middle schools with fewer than 400 students. Russell principal Jeanice Swift said a middle school should have about 750 students to efficiently offer a variety of courses.

District 11 and state officials said they believe Emerson is the first charter school to go into the required restructure planning phase. About 40 other Colorado schools are in various stages of the AYP restructure process, none in the Pikes Peak region. Adequate Yearly Progress grades are pass or fail and are based largely on a school's scores on the Colorado Student Assessment Program tests.

D-11's East Middle School failed AYP for five years, but the district shuttered the school for a year so it did not get to point of the state-mandated restructure program. The district restructured it with a magnet program, renamed the Galileo School of Math and Science and it opened to sixth-graders in August. Seventh- and eighth-graders will be added in future years.

Glenn Gustafson, D-11 chief of finance and its liaison with charter schools, said the district will meet with parents and other interested parties during the restructure planning.
"We think restructuring could mean a lot of things," he said. "It could mean a different charter, it could mean Edison continues with a different program."

He said it's clear from state guidelines that if a public school fails, the state would push for it to be converted to a charter school. It's not so clear, he said, when a charter school fails.

Gustafson said he has met with Edison officials several times in recent years as the AYP failures mounted. When the district renewed Edison's charter three years ago, it opted for a three-year contract instead of five years because of the school's achievement problems.

Edison must submit an application for renewal by Dec. 1, and the district recommended that it submit separate proposals for Emerson and Roosevelt, said Kristine Odom, contract specialist. The school board must decide by Feb. 1 whether to renew either contract.

Gustafson said he doesn't know whether Edison officials will apply to renew Emerson's charter. An Edison spokesman referred questions to a regional director, who did not respond to The Gazette. Emerson Principal Precious Broadnax said earlier this week that she did not have time to talk.

Gustafson said the district must look at how Emerson fits in with its overall school plan, and in particular with schools in the southeast part of the district. Emerson serves Peterson Air Force Base, and many military parents have chosen to have their children attend Russell, he said.

The process that kicked off with Wednesday's vote will include community surveys, focus groups and a discussion about what kind of school Emerson should become if it is restructured.

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Contact the Writer: 636-0251 or sue.mcmillin@gazette.com