The Durango School District 9-R school board and Superintendent Karen Cheser have admitted many times in open board meetings that they do not have the capacity this year to consider a charter application. They have no significant experience with charter applications, they have staffing shortages from the COVID-19 pandemic and they have financial constraints.

Ascent Classical Academy Durango asked for an early application review this spring, planning to open in August 2023 and needing 18 months to open. The 9-R district statute states they will not review their application until August 2022, even though their chartering authority allows them to easily acquiesce. Currently, the families of 475 Durango and surrounding area students want this school to open on schedule; the 9-R board would delay Ascent’s opening until August 2024.

Will they will miraculously become experts in charter applications in six more months? Likely not, but the Colorado State Charter Institute is fully staffed, well-prepared and well-versed in charters. They have approved other charter schools in Durango as well as other Ascent academies. The right thing for District 9-R to do is to accept an early application from Ascent and relinquish them to CSI for review so this school can open on its intended date. If District 9-R will not consider this, it is hard to believe that the board and superintendent representing the families of District 9-R are not intending to make it harder for Ascent Classical Academy to come to Durango.

Lyn O’Brien

Durango