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Utah Charter Schools Sprouting Up at a Rapid Pace; 11 Will Open Next Month, 15 Are Slated to Debut in 2006

Posted on: Monday, 19 September 2005, 03:01 CDT

The charter school movement in Utah is thriving, with 11 new schools set to open in September and another 15 waiting for approval to open next year.

Charter schools debuted in the state in 1999, when seven schools opened in locations evenly spread throughout the state. Since then, new charter schools have opened, nearly doubling the charter school student population each year, going from 805 students in 1999 to an estimated 12,000 students slated to attend charter schools this year.

"In 50 years, as we look back on the history of education, I think this will be considered one of the great movements in education as far as reform," said John Broberg, Utah Charter School director. "It will be a great movement brought about by parents, by people, not by government, and I think it will be looked on very positively."

The growth in charter schools is centralizing primarily along the Wasatch Front, particularly in Utah County, and within some of the state's largest school districts, namely, Jordan, Granite, Nebo and Alpine. Charter schools are typically started by parents looking for an alternative to public education and because existing charter schools have long waiting lists.

The 11 new schools scheduled to open next month are Lincoln Academy in American Fork with 480 students; North Star Academy in Riverton with 450 students; Odyssey Charter School in American Fork with 375 students; Reagan Academy in Springville with 675 students; Success Academy in Cedar City with 200 students; Thomas Edison Charter School South in Providence with 504 students; Utah County Academy of Sciences in Orem with 200 students; Wasatch Peak Academy in Bountiful with 350 students; American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork with 1,275 students; American Preparatory Academy-West in Draper with 468 students and Beehive Science and Technology Academy in Salt Lake City with 150 students.

"The Wasatch Front is growing," Broberg said. "Charter schools used to be about 200 students. They're now 300 to 400 students because they're adding grades each year."

Each of the schools has its own charter or "mission" that focuses on a learning and education model that varies from gifted educational programs to science and technology. All claim low student/teacher ratios in all grades and a learning program that allows students to explore areas of interest to them.

While students attending charter schools come from the public school system, a decrease in public school enrollment is not noticeable because many Wasatch Front public schools are overcrowded, Broberg said.

"The districts along the Wasatch Front are very concerned about these [charter] schools. Although they are overcrowded and they're growing so fast, they still don't like the competition," Broberg said. "Competition may be difficult for the organizations, both charter schools and public schools, but it certainly benefits the kids because they get a better education. It forces us on both sides of the fence to improve and to push and to really be dynamic in our thinking on how can we be better."

The new educational concept created by the charter school movement has produced a situation where all schools are now beginning to "view students as customers, not as assignments," he said. "It really makes a difference in kids."

Despite having more than enough students to fill classrooms, and a sound educational format, charter schools are not without their challenges, which include finding facilities for classrooms and securing the funding to put a school together.

"It typically takes about $500,000 to equip a new public school with library books, curriculum and equipment," Broberg said. "There is no way to start a charter schools if you don't have money up front, and these schools don't have money from the state until they start. Charter schools can't tax, they don't have the ability to get leeway taxes or pass bond issues that other public schools do, so they have to do some other type of financing."

Thanks to a new $4 million federal grant recently received by the state charter board, each of the new charter schools is expected to received about $150,000 in start-up money. However, each school will be required to apply for the funding.

To offset costs, many charter schools are now partnering with the business community to help fund facilities and other costs related to starting a school. Broberg said that in other states, partnering with a company is a common practice in the opening of a new charter school.

"This is the first real effort in what we call education for profit that we've ever had in this state," he said. "Other states deal with companies that contract with districts that say 'contract with us and students will do this and that.' Utah has never had that and these companies are now looking at charter schools as a medium to move into that in the state."

Companies are also helping provide facilities the new charter schools need, something that has become increasingly problematic for the new schools that are planning to open this year. Some of the schools didn't secure a facility or location until mid summer and are now scrambling to complete renovations in order to open in September.

"A couple of schools had problems getting land and others had problems getting their financing," Broberg said. "To get a new facility, some of the charter schools have to enter into a lease agreement. There are some companies out there that will have a 10 or 15 year tease at a high percentage and then that company will come in and build a school."

In order to prepare for the upcoming academic year, one of the schools is meeting in a warehouse that is being remodeled for the school until a more permanent site is found, while another school is opening in relocatable classrooms until its facility is built. Other schools meet in leased offices or warehouses that have been modified for use as a school. Most of the charter schools will not have the same type of solid 100year lifespan construction that is typical of most public school buildings.

"These schools have more sheetrock and more siding than they do brick," Broberg said. "Schools built by the state in the 40 school districts, they build them for 100 years, but they are all brick and very expensive construction Where some of our charter schools are very nice looking schools, they have more metal siding and they may take a little more maintenance in the long run. But they're very substantial schools."

But all of the schools are still required to meet the same government regulations and inspections as other public schools for facilities as well as for academic standards. Broberg said the biggest complaint that comes into his office is that of governance of the schools by parents.

"Every school is new. They are not transferring someone that has been experienced in from another school. They have tried to create a new mold in and of themselves and they have a huge learning curve ahead of them" Broberg said. "We're still evolving in the patterns in management. Some of the schools need a little more strength and leadership and others are doing just fine."

In addition to the 11 new charter schools opening this fall, the charter board has already approved five new schools to open in 2006 and will be reviewing another four applications at its next meeting this month. By Sept. 30, the deadline to apply for a school charter, the board expects to have at total of 15 to 17 applications for charter schools that want to open for the 200607 school year.

Copyright Enterprise Business Newspaper Inc. Aug 15, 2005

Source: Enterprise, The; Salt Lake City

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