With a significant deadline drawing near for a potential Elgin charter school, School District U46’s board is split on what the contract should look like.
A number of subjects vital to the operations of the Elgin Math and Science Academy (EMSA) — sources of funding, at-risk student recruiting, expansion, disciplinary policies — were scrutinized during a four-hour special school board meeting Monday. Two sides formed on most of the bullet points, showing a clear divide exists in how a charter should operate, on how much oversight the school should have from its authorizer.
“Part of a charter is giving them independence to operate with these guidelines,” said board member Veronica Noland, “but getting into the nitty gritty…I don’t want to go there. I think we’re getting too far into this. If you wanted to do that, we should have started our own.”
Last month, the board conditionally approved the EMSA proposal 6-1, pending a finalized contract. On Monday, that wide margin of victory seemed to have disappeared, as many of the contract’s key provisions triggered passionate debates for opposing viewpoints.
On one side were board members believing EMSA should have greater independence from district oversight in some areas. One of those areas of contention was the potential expansion of the school in the future. While the school could ultimately reach its 2023-24 target of 450 students in grades K-8 under the agreement, the contract adds that the school can expand up to 600 students based on space and demand.
“We’re talking about a 33-percent potential expansion of operations,” said board member Melissa Owens. “I think that’s something we need to come back to us during a re-authorization process. That’s a significant impact to both their operation and our operation.”
EMSA president Kerry Kelly weighed in, adding charters tend to allow expansion. “This is a contract that’s based on other charter contracts, it allows for reasonable expansion.” The item was added during contract negotiations and not in the original proposal.
The estimated cost for the school without expansion is more than $4 million annually in U46 funds. The additional cost merits U46 intervention in some aspects, said board member Traci O’Neal Ellis, because of where the money will come from — or from where it will be taken.
“When you’re looking for money to this tune, the way to find it is closing schools, lay off teachers, cut programs,” she said. “You’re not going to find it by cutting professional development, you’re not going to find it by saying you won’t buy copy paper as often.”
The draft agreement requires the school to adopt a plan to recruit at-risk students, which EMSA supporters have said will be the primary beneficiaries of its facilities and services.
The board went into the details of this item in the contract, as there was confusion as to what a recruitment plan actually entailed — was EMSA required to meet its stated goal of 60 percent at-risk students or was it more of a suggestion?
“We agreed that they would have a plan to obtain 60 percent at-risk (students), not that they had to have 60-percent enrollment,” said board member Jeanette Ward. O’Neal Ellis disagreed, countering that they do need a plan in place and should be hitting that mark.
It will be difficult, added O’Neal Ellis, as neighboring District 300’s charter school has not had high percentages of minority or low-income students. The most recent data from Illinois Report Card show Cambridge Lakes Charter School with 15 percent low-income students, while about 53 percent identified as a minority or of two or more races.
The agreement requires full bilingual and special education services to students, the contract stipulates. Should EMSA not be able to fulfill special education responsibilities, the district can take over and fulfill the requirement, but would also reduce EMSA’s funding by the costs associated with the services.
The amended contract also stipulates that there must be a full-time nurse on staff, instead of a part-time nurse originally requested by EMSA. Ward said it should be up to EMSA to hire a nurse either as part-time or full-time, while O’Neal Ellis believed a school of this size needed a full-time nurse.
The school must also follow U46’s student code of conduct in addressing any student disciplinary actions, the current contract reads.
There was also mention of EMSA’s original proposal regarding transportation. While EMSA officials had said there would be limited busing to students in the vicinity of the school site near Interstate 90 and Route 25, the amended contract said neither U46 nor EMSA had to provide school bus transportation.
“It seems unreasonable to ask that students have to find their own way to school, especially when…they’re trying to go to this school to get things they wouldn’t be able to in a regular public school,” newly appointed student board representative Casey Pearce said.
Monday was the board’s first attempt in public to weigh the original draft of a contract both EMSA and U46 officials crafted. Both sides have until June 30 to finalize and vote on a contract for the school, which, if approved, would be U46’s first charter school.
