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APS Could House Some Charter Schools ; State Board Offers Proposals for Meeting Building Requirements

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 October 2005, 12:00 CDT

By OLIVIER UYTTEBROUCK Journal Staff Writer

SANTA FE -- Housing some of Albuquerque's charter schools in seven Albuquerque Public Schools buildings is among the options district officials offered a state board Monday.

District officials offered eight options, ranging from $44 million to $274 million, aimed at bringing charter schools up to the same standards required of all APS buildings.

Lawmakers this year required districts to include charter schools in their facility master plans, which outline plans for building and maintenance.

But the plan drew fire from charter school officials, who said APS offered them no role in drafting the proposal.

"If there is no input from the ground level, the solution will be one-sided," said Lisa Grover, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition of Charter Schools.

Grover also sits on the seven-member Charter School Advisory Committee, which was formed by lawmakers this year to recommend legislation for addressing the capital needs of charter schools.

"This is not what I would call meaningful input from the charter (school) operators," Grover said after the meeting.

Tom Savage, APS' deputy superintendent for district resources, said the six-month, $180,000 study is a first step toward including charter schools in the district's master plan.

"This document was intended to inform," Savage said. He invited charter school leaders to respond to the plan and to attend a new Strategic Action Committee for Charter Schools intended to forge a closer relationship with the district.

APS has 34 approved charter schools with an enrollment of about 7,100. Six new schools have applied for APS charters.

A $44 million project to bring existing charter schools into compliance with state code offers the least expensive option presented by district officials.

That option has a major drawback, though, because all but two Albuquerque charter schools are housed in privately owned buildings, said Kizito Wijenje, APS capital master plan director.

The anti-donation clause of the state constitution prohibits agencies from appropriating money that benefit a private individual. Without a change in state law, he said, APS could not pay for improvements to private buildings.

Under a second option, APS would buy and remodel existing charter schools at an estimated cost of $145 million. That option would rely on the willingness of owners to sell to APS, Wijenje said.

There are seven existing APS schools with building capacity to accommodate charter schools, the study found. It did not name the schools.

Two options, ranging in cost from $150 million to $258 million, would put some charters in existing APS schools.

Source: Albuquerque Journal

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