Congratulations To Nampa!
The Nampa community will have a new charter school and a lot more parents will have their choice of schools for their students. The new school is “Legacy Charter School” and will open in the fall of 2011. Initially the school will enroll about 275 pupils in grades k-8 and will use the Harbor Method for their instructional model, a model that is widely used in Nampa and other schools around the state. The new school will open in a new building that will be constructed without impacting the local property taxpayers. This is an impressive beginning to say the least!
This new school, the 6th charter school in the City of Nampa, was approved by the Idaho Charter School Commission over the objections of officials from the Nampa School District. Those officials objected on the grounds that this new school would further compound the fiscal problems they face, as any new charter school will tend to dilute the state funds as they receive more money from the state due to their small enrollment. The formula used to distribute the annual state appropriation recognizes economy of scale, it therefore provides, via a table of divisors, some added funding to small schools, both traditional and charter. While this is true, the Nampa officials failed to acknowledge the fact that there are over 3,000 kids in Nampa on waiting lists for Victory or Liberty charter schools who want to enroll in a charter school and specifically a Harbor method school. They also failed to acknowledge the fact that via the exodus of nearly 300 students from the Nampa schools, the District will essentially have more money to spend on those who remain. They lose a few dollars per student from the State, but because of significant support in the form of property tax revenue there is an increase in total dollars available per student.
If the Nampa school district really wanted to be proactive instead of reactive they might consider the fact that in their community there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of parents who want a choice of schools. Specifically they want the opportunity to choose a Harbor school. Nothing precludes the Nampa School District from converting one or more of their existing elementary schools to a Harbor school, which would create a win-win situation. The District would retain the students that they have the fear of losing and parents would have the choice they desire. Nampa would not be the first school district to do just that. Wouldn’t that be a good solution?
Thanks and congratulations to the Charter School Commission for acting on behalf of kids and parents and not reacting to the cries of “foul” from the Nampa school officials.
You say, “Nothing precludes the Nampa School District from converting one or more of their existing elementary schools to a Harbor school, which would create a win-win situation.”
There must be reasons why this appears to never happen. Why do so many families want a Harbor School? If those reasons can be defended, why can’t the district experiment with a transition plan for one or more (if scale important) public schools?
bob b
Couple of things …
First, the original post ignores that the state took schools off the property tax for general operations when Risch was governor. Some minor levies remain. School districts do tax property in order to build new schools, because unlike charters they cannot “cap” or turn away students when their buidings reach capacity. School districts should cap enrollment and then they, too could create artificial waiting lists to boast about.
The huge funding gap between what the district receives for a student and what the charter receives for a student creates an inequity worth suing the state over. Patrons and parents of children in the Nampa School District should file a class action lawsuit and demand equal funding. Parents of special needs students should be enraged at the levels of funding the charters receive for their upperclass, mostly white students.
Second, Nampa did consider converting one of its schools — Iowa — into the first Harbor Method School. This was rejected by the board, which at the time included Tom Luna, who was a vocal opponent. Since that time, the “founders” of these schools have not been proactive and reached out the the district to see if a school was available for conversion. Clearly, the current Harbor Method school did not explore this option. They used the holiday season to fast track their charter to the Idaho Charter School Commission refusing to answer questions about their proposal from the Nampa School Board. Charters avoid public accountability by going into debt financing buildings without even a vote of the taxpayers in their community. Where’s the transparency or even democracy in this system?