State school board wants authority to approve, deny new charter schools

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, May 10, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

The Nevada Board of Education on Saturday decided to ask the Legislature for more authority over charter schools, including the power to reject proposed charter schools even if applicants meet all the requirements.

The current statute states that the education board "shall approve" a charter school application provided the basic requirements are met. The Board of Education will ask the 2005 Legislature to change the word "shall" to "may," said board President Gary Waters.

"As the law stands now, we don't have a choice or a say in the matter, even though we're the ones who are going to end up supervising those schools," Waters said. "In effect we are becoming the state's 18th school district."

State board member John Gwaltney agreed.

"They might not have a basketball team to root for but they are our schools," Gwaltney said.

With 14 charter schools currently operating statewide and another nine expected to open in August, the state education department's bill-draft request asks lawmakers for an additional $75,230 to hire a second, full-time charter school consultant.

The board also voted Saturday to approve a preliminary charter application for one of its own members, John Hawk, who plans to open a dual-credit high school in conjunction with Nevada State College.

Charter school applicants may seek state board sponsorship after being turned down by local school boards.

Clark County School Board members initially showed support for Hawk's charter school but changed their minds after he received waivers from the state to override their two strongest concerns -- the use of college faculty who may not have met the licensing requirements for high school teachers, and plans for an abbreviated academic calendar.

Nevada State High School would open in the fall with 70 students earning both high school and college credits. The Clark County School District's Community College High School is a similar program although core courses are taught by licensed teachers.

Waters, who ultimately voted to approve Hawk's application, said he would have voted against it if he felt he had the authority to do so.

"My concerns have nothing to do with the merits of John Hawk's proposal, which I personally believe to be strong," Waters said. "What I don't like is arbitrarily overriding the very well-informed Clark County School Board."

A state ethics panel told Hawk this fall he could only keep his elected seat if the Clark County School Board sponsored the charter school. Hawk said as recently as last month that he would resign if his state board colleagues approved his charter application.

However, Hawk has filed for re-election, and said Saturday he is still considering his options.

"I don't want to close any doors at this point," said Hawk, a regional trainer for the Clark County School District. "Obviously if there's an ethical conflict I will resign, but I'm still optimistic that something can be worked out."

Waters said he doesn't want to lose Hawk's presence on the board. The ethics panel decision focused on the fact that board members hire and fire the state superintendent, while the state superintendent oversees charter schools, Waters said.

"If there is some way we could shift oversight from under Dr. (Keith) Rheault and avoid that conflict, I want to find it," Waters said.

In addition to the proposed charter schools legislation, the state board approved additional bill drafts:

A request that the state offer teachers reimbursement for work toward master's degrees in exchange for taking hard-to-fill positions in struggling schools. The Legislature during the last session approved retirement credits for teachers at "needs improvement" schools and for those teaching math, science, English as a second language and special education classes. But for younger teachers just beginning their careers, the retirement credit may not be enough of an incentive, state officials said.

A request for an additional $19.26 million to extend by 30 minutes the amount of instructional time in kindergarten classes in fiscal years 2006 and 2007. Currently, "half-day" kindergarten classes get two hours of instruction. Attempts during the last two legislative sessions to win funding for full-day kindergarten programs failed.

A request to align the state's required student-to-teacher ratio in first through third grades to reflect actual funding levels. The state board grants waivers each year to local districts who cannot meet required ratios because of insufficient monies to reduce class sizes.