Charter parents say they're left out

They say Draper school leaders betray ideals

By Tiffany Erickson
Deseret Morning News
Published: Saturday, Aug. 27, 2005 11:47 p.m. MDT
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DRAPER — Parents in a Draper charter school say they are being left out of the loop in a school where they were told their voices would be at the helm. They say school leaders are going against the very philosophies that drew them to the charter — a parent-run school.

Charter schools are free public schools and many are established and run by parents. The draw to charter schools for many families is that they are crafted for high parental involvement.

But under new reauthorization Summit Academy, a K-6 school chartered through Jordan School District, would be run by founders and appointed members instead of the former board elected by parents. This will be the school's second year in operation.

"We feel like we've been duped," said Mark Reese, a Summit parent. "We were told there would be lots of parental involvement, lots of teacher input and the founders would be more of an advisory . . . but the rug has been pulled out from under us, and to me it's bait and switch."

Last spring district leaders started getting complaints from parents about the school's operation, which spurred a district investigation and financial audit.

Among the complaints were that school leaders unlawfully dissolved Summit's elected school board, which meant founding members were exclusively running the show.

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Some parents said that throughout the year they knew little about what was going on and were not kept in the loop about meetings, decisions and activities. And they said even before the elected board was dissolved it was treated more like an advisory board than a governing entity.

The financial check came back clean but Jordan found the school was out of compliance with their charter or state or federal law on 12 other issues — the big ones being governance, open meetings laws and communication.

"Most of the compliance issues were procedural, it's a new school, compliance issues are expected and can easily be worked through," said Janine Bowen, Jordan's charter school specialist. "Summit Academy is a good school, the parents are very pleased with what their children are receiving in terms of their education — the key issues are trust and communication."

The report was released early last week. Under Jordan's recommendation the school would have until the end of the school year to be in full compliance — including reinstating the elected governing board called for in their charter, posting and holding monthly meetings, improving communication and keeping adequate records — or their charter would be revoked.

However, last week the State Charter School Board approved Summit leaders' request to be reauthorized under the charter board, thus taking compliance issues out of Jordan's hands. The conversion awaits approval from the state school board Sept. 2.

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