A feud between Durango School District 9-R and Ascent Classical Academies, a charter school company looking to build a new school in or near Durango, is escalating.
The Durango school board filed for a judgment on March 1 seeking a declaration that Aug. 1 is the filing date for charter applications.
The filing also seeks a declaration that Ascent’s application, which the filing says was submitted electronically on Feb. 7, cannot be filed until Aug. 1. The filing further asks that Ascent be instructed to refrain from seeking any appeals with the Colorado State Board of Education until the end of the 90-day review period allotted to the school district, and that Ascent reimburses the district for costs and expenses related to the legal action.
Superintendent Karen Cheser provided The Durango Herald with a copy of the district’s filing on Friday.
Ascent submitted its application to the board on Feb. 7, arguing that the school district’s policy requires applications to be submitted on or before Aug. 1.
The state Charter Schools Act says application filings “shall not be any earlier than August 1.” School boards have 75 days to rule on charter applications, according to Colorado CCI. An exception to Aug. 1 is allowed should both the filing charter and the school district agree to an earlier application date.
But Derec Shuler, executive director of Ascent Classical Academies, has been persistent in his stance that the school district should accept an early application from the charter.
Shuler has been pursuing an early application because the charter needs ample time to secure a land parcel and begin a search for school leaders and staff members, he said in a January interview with The Durango Herald.
In an email on Friday, Shuler said Durango School District’s own policy on charter school relations requires charter applications to be submitted to the district by Aug. 1. The policy also reserves the school board’s ability to waive the application deadline.
“Durango 9-R continues to not address the clear language of their own policy that says ‘on or before’ and that the entire process with Juniper Charter School was done outside statutory timelines without any action of the board,” Shuler said.
In a news release Tuesday, Shuler said he is disappointed the school board won’t give Ascent “a fair chance.”
“Durango 9-R is asking a court to determine that its own policy is illegal to avoid doing its job as a charter authorizer and supporting the choices of parents,” he said in the news release.
On Tuesday, Ascent filed a notice of appeal that was delivered by email to Durango School District as well as the Colorado Board of Education.
The notice says that by refusing to review Ascent’s early application, the school district has denied it. The appeal asks if the district is required to review the charter’s submitted application.
Kristin Smith, school board president, said in a written statement released Tuesday that the board learned earlier that afternoon that Ascent was attempting to appeal to the Colorado Charter School Institute, the state authority on charters, rather than submit its application to the school district in August as the board has requested.
Durango School District 9-R’s filing argues that Ascent cannot require the district to review its application early, and that allowing the charter to “unilaterally determine an earlier filing deadline would infringe the constitutional guarantee of control over instruction enjoyed by local boards of education.”
Ascent requested an early application date in September but was denied. Shuler addressed the board during a January board meeting but was only allowed to speak during the public participation segment of the meeting.
Ascent’s news release responding to the school district’s filing for declaratory judgment says more than 530 families have shown interest in the sort of schooling Ascent Classical Academy provides. Ascent Classical Academy describes itself as a liberal arts and science school with a focus on traditional classical education.
cburney@durangoherald.com
