Bell may toll for charter high school

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.

With the school district poised to force a shutdown, Clark County Team Academy officials said Tuesday their charter high school may not be in business when the new academic year begins next week.

The charter school, which provides online high school courses to about 250 students, has failed to correct several serious violations of state law, said Craig Kadlub, director of public affairs for the Clark County School District.

The academy is several months behind in its mandatory contributions to the state's employee retirement fund and has not met state requirements for providing services to special education students, Kadlub said.

Other violations, such as having an inadequate curriculum and failing to have licensed teachers on the governing body, Kadlub said.

Becky Pintar, president of the academy's governing body, said when the group meets Thursday she will recommend the school close voluntarily.

"The compliance issues are very severe," said Pintar, who spent more than a decade as an administrator in the district's alternative education department and is now an attorney. "We've tried to solve the issues, but they're overwhelming. I believe the best move at this point is to close down and do our best to help our students find other educational options."

But Frank Mitchell, Team Academy's administrator, said he doesn't think the school should shut down. The violations have either been resolved or will be soon, Mitchell said.

"For us to bail out of the boat just when it's fixed doesn't make any sense," said Mitchell, who as a school employee is not a member of the governing body.

Team Academy owes $32,000 to the state Public Employees Retirement System and another $27,000 in retirement contributions to the district, Mitchell said. Those debts could be cleared next month when the school is due to receive $193,000 in late payments from the state education department, Mitchell said.

Mitchell also said he disagrees with the school district's assessment of the academy's curriculum and special education program, and he has asked the district to re-evaluate them. Mitchell added that the academy could add certified teachers to its board this week, if other board members agree.

Gary Waters, president of the State Board of Education, said the department needs to do a better job of making timely payments to charter schools so they can operate.

The state and local school districts also need to do a better job coordinating their audits of charter schools to ensure accuracy, Waters said.

"Our system is slow, it's antiquated," Waters said. "We need to do a better job validating when charter schools are in compliance and when they are not."

State education officials plan to recommend a revamping of Nevada's charter school law to the 2005 Legislature, including more fiscal oversight.

The district notified Team Academy's governing body and principal in June of the violations, giving them the state-mandated 90 days' notice of intent to revoke the school's charter. While other charter schools have been similarly flagged in the past, those campuses corrected the problems within the allotted time frame, Kadlub said.

Clark County Team Academy had until Aug. 15 to solve its problems, Kadlub said.

The district has no authority to revoke the school's charter prior to the Oct. 14 meeting of the Clark County School Board. That means the academy could choose to open its doors for the first day of school on Monday and not be in violation of the law.

But Kadlub said he hopes the school's administration will "do the right thing" on behalf of their students, teachers and staff.

"If a charter school closes after the (academic) year begins, suddenly people are without jobs, kids risk losing credits -- it's never a pretty picture," Kadlub said. "I have encouraged them to consider the impact on students and contracted employees and suspend operations immediately."

Charter schools receive the same per-pupil funding levels as regular district schools. The amounts are based on enrollment on "count day," which this year is Sept. 17. If Team Academy opened Monday and was then shut down by the School Board in October, the funding allocated to the school could be in limbo.

In 2000 TechWorld, a Clark County charter school, abruptly shut its doors after just nine weeks in operation. Parents and employees received no advance notice; students showed up for classes and found the buildings locked. The sudden closure cost the district $315,000 in per-pupil funding for 80 students.

If Team Academy closes, its students still have time to enroll in one of the district's comprehensive high schools or an alternative education program. Craig Butz, executive director of Odyssey Charter School, said the high school program has room for any Team Academy students who wish to apply.

The district also has its own virtual high school opening next week, offering similar programs to both Team Academy and Odyssey.

Pintar said while she wished the governing board had been told earlier of the school's financial problems, she did not believe that any funds were misappropriated. A preliminary audit shows no evidence that funds were misappropriated or mishandled, Pintar said.

The school opened last fall with the hopes of enrolling at least 300 students, Pintar said. When funding was received for just 230 pupils it wasn't enough to cover the budget, Pintar said.

Mitchell, a longtime district employee, has an impressive resume as a school guidance counselor but no significant experience as an administrator, Pintar said.

"He, like everyone else, had the best interest of the school and the students at heart but in the end I think we were overwhelmed," Pintar said. "You need to duplicate the district's business and accounting offices, personnel and payroll, all of it. It's a lot more work than I think anyone realizes."