March 14, 2001
Boulder Daily Camera
by Amy Bounds
Summit Middle School, Boulder Valley's first charter school, can continue offering its academically rigorous curriculum to students for another five years.
But in unanimously voting to renew the 5-year-old school's charter, the Boulder Valley school board set a number of conditions for negotiating Summit's new contract. The district has 90 days to negotiate a mutually acceptable contract with the school.
The ground rules include less enrollment growth and less money than the school requested, as well as no long-term commitment to a district-owned building.
"They loaded it with stuff that's going to be unacceptable," said Summit parent and board President Jim Cederberg. "They don't want to give us a decent, five-year deal."
Despite three delays that gave the two sides an extra month and a half to negotiate Summit's requests, Cederberg said the district never proposed a workable compromise.
But school board President Stan Garnett said the school district negotiated in good faith.
"We did everything we could to put our best proposal on the table," he said. "Many of these issues require long-term solutions. They can't be solved with just a stroke of the pen."
Instead of the 150 additional students requested by Summit officials, the district agreed to a 50-student increase in the fall for a total enrollment of 300.
Summit also asked for $4,236 per student, after subtracting money to pay for the central services the district provides the school. The district decided on $3,764 per student.
And instead of a long-term commitment to a school site, the district promised only that Summit could stay at its current location — the Majestic Heights Elementary School building — through the next school year.
The school board agreed to revisit the enrollment and facility issues sometime after December of 2002.
Cederberg said Summit's board of directors can either accept the school board's contract terms or appeal to the Colorado Board of Education — an option Summit has used in the past.