March 13, 2001
Boulder Daily Camera
by Amy Bounds
Kendra Kilbride said she switched to Summit Middle School when her straight-A grades started dropping in sixth grade.
"I just didn't care," said Kilbride, now a junior in Fairview High School's International Baccalaureate program. "I wasn't challenged. Summit gave me a challenge. I wanted to learn more and more. Summit is the best thing that happened to me. I'm still using what they taught me in high school."
Stories like Kendra's are the reason parents at Summit, Boulder Valley's first charter school, are asking the school board for a 150-student increase, more funding and financial help to improve the school building.
The school board plans to vote on Summit's contract renewal at today's meeting after three delays that gave the two sides an extra month and a half to negotiate the 5-year-old school's requests.
"I'm not sure exactly what the board will decide, but the recommendations from the staff are reasonable," said school board President Stan Garnett. "We really worked with Summit in good faith."
Though most details are still under negotiation and so not available, it doesn't appear district staff will recommend the board agree to many of Summit's original requests for the next five-year contract.
Summit parent and board President Jim Cederberg said the district never proposed an "acceptable" resolution during negotiations.
"We tried really hard to compromise and find something that would work, but the school district thinks charter schools should be treated differently," he said.
"If families want to go to Summit, they ought to be able to go to Summit."
Instead of the 150 more students requested, the district agreed to a 50-student increase in the fall for a total enrollment of 300.
District staff said Summit's current site, the Majestic Heights Elementary building with one portable, can only fit an additional 50 students without adding more classrooms or portables.
And though Summit traditionally has long waiting lists, Peak to Peak Charter School should help meet the demand, said secondary education executive director Marilyn Marinelli. Peak to Peak, now a K-5 school, is adding a middle school program in the fall similar to the one offered at Summit.
"We have to look at the total number of students in charter schools and look at the total impact that has on our overall budget," Marinelli said.
Another contentious issue is funding.
Summit is asking for $4,236 per student after subtracting money to pay for the central services the district provides the school. The district is proposing $3,764 per student.
Cederberg said the district's proposed amount represents a funding cut of about $50 per student, even though he calculated that the school currently receives $380 less a student than regular public schools.
"Summit has never been funded equitably," he said.
But district officials said their proposal is more equitable because it uses the same formula on which the funding for the rest of Boulder Valley's charter schools is based.
"My position is that Summit should be treated consistently," Garnett said.
Several community members have spoken against Summit's requests, including Southern Hills Middle School parent Laurie Albright.
She said Summit's expansion would mean fewer students and less resources for the rest of Boulder Valley's schools.
"Summit is asking for more than their fair share," she said, adding the school doesn't offer a better program than any other middle school. She attributed its high test scores to the school attracting the district's top students.
The school is known for its challenging academics and for some of the top test scores in the district on the Colorado Student Assessment Program tests but also has fewer low-income, English as a second language and special education students than the district average.
Cederberg said Summit's board of directors can either accept the school board's decision on the contract terms or appeal to the Colorado Board of Education.
"We don't think it's an appropriate way to treat a program that has had tremendous success, tremendous demand and a proven, five-year track record," he said. "We'll have to look at what the school board's resolution is and then vote on an appeal."
The school board meeting is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at the Education Center, 6500 E. Arapahoe Road.