Tuesday night, the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education approved a resolution granting conditional approval for The Juniper School’s charter application. If the proposed elementary school’s proponents address the board’s concerns about budget, curriculum, technology and professional development by late August, 9-R will approve the charter and support the fledgling school.
While The Juniper School envisions an innovative educational model for La Plata County’s young learners, committing the district to the charter – and its requisite fiduciary responsibility – must be considered carefully, with fiscal data and the full K-12 environment as reference points.
While Tuesday’s decision does not make that full commitment, it propels both the district and The Juniper School farther down the path. In the months to come, both entities should take pains to place the proposed school in the greater context of Durango’s educational options. Doing so will get at the fundamental issue that must guide the district and The Juniper School’s proponents going forward: the school’s financial viability.
Until Tuesday’s meeting, 9-R’s District Advisory Accountability Committee, which is tasked with making recommendations to the board on charter proposals, had significant concerns about Juniper’s charter application – so much so that after each of three reviews, it advised the 9-R board against approving it. That advice did not reflect lack of support for the proposal but rather questions about its readiness – specifically with respect to the budget, though the DAAC had concerns about other major components, including staffing, technology and professional development.
The Juniper School responded quickly, professionally and thoroughly by all accounts and, as Jackie Oros, 9-R’s chief student support services officer, said at Tuesday’s meeting, “They are well on their way to meeting the demands of the rubric.” Further, Oros and Nancy Stubbs, the 9-R board’s representative on DAAC, spoke highly of the group’s diligence, enthusiasm and willingness to collaborate. Nevertheless, questions remain.
Among the largest, it seems, is how the new charter school will affect – and be affected by – the overall K-12 landscape in Durango, both in terms of enrollment and resources. Several board members raised questions regarding this concern, and concrete answers must inform the district’s next steps.
Board president Andy Burns asked how Mountain Middle School’s recent announcement of its long-held plans to add elementary grades – beginning in 2015-16 school year with a class in each of grades 3-5 – impacts The Juniper School’s projected enrollment. Tammy Fraley, president of the school’s board, responded that the group is unconcerned about Mountain’s plans and believes that there is sufficient demand to necessitate both schools. Perhaps. But the numbers – not just a belief – need to bear that out.
While Mountain is not a district-held charter, it and its high school counterpart, Animas, work closely with 9-R and, more fundamentally, operate in – and draw from – the same student and funding universe as both the district and Juniper. As 9-R board member Kim Martin said at Tuesday’s meeting, there are many related costs that an approved Juniper charter will bring to the district: loss of students and the per-pupil state funding each receives, teachers and staff who have been trained through 9-R investment but then leave to work at Juniper, and adding a new draw on the limited private funding options in the community.
These are important considerations, made all the more so when placed in a context that extends beyond 9-R to include the existing private and charter schools in the community. Before finalizing its agreement with Juniper, the 9-R board should expand the scope of its process to make such considerations. Doing so will boost Juniper’s prospects for success, as well as ensure the district and its partners do not suffer for it.
