The Idaho Public Charter School Commission met Thursday to discuss impacts of the Accelerating Public Charter Schools Act that passed the Legislature earlier this year. 

The act was a sweeping revision to the rules governing charter school applications, operations and reauthorizations.

Authorizers are now allowed to intervene more quickly at signs that charter schools are underperforming. Those schools also were granted access to the Idaho Department of Education’s building capacity program.

On Thursday, Ryan Cantrell, deputy superintendent of public instruction, presented the commission with how that access is playing out. 

Four schools were identified as needing that support due to academic struggles: Blackfoot Charter Community Learning Center, Mountain Community School, Rolling Hills Public Charter School, and Peace Valley Public Charter. 

The administrators and boards of those schools are voluntarily participating in a three-year program designed to help get them back on track. Despite the three-year plan, the program only received one-time funding at $300,000. IDE and the commission discussed plans to go back to the Joint Finance- Appropriations Committee during the upcoming legislative session to ask for funds to continue and expand the program.

The schools each underwent a needs assessment and then are tasked with creating an action plan for the first year, due this month, that includes benchmarks, deliverables, metrics and trainings. The schools will continue bi-monthly check-ins and coaching sessions with the program’s administrator throughout the year, culminating with a presentation to the commission in June. 

The first year of the program is focused on re-evaluating the structure and leadership of the school, the second addresses seeing academic progress and the third year is to focus on sustainability. 

“The leader can get better, the board can get better, when both get better and they become aligned on what they want for their students,” Cantrell said. “That’s where the magic happens.” 

The majority of the $300,000 for the first year goes to paying the program administrator and reimbursing charter school staff for travel and training. Just over $100,000 is set aside to pay for school needs or expenses on an as-needed basis, like curriculum purchases, to help the schools achieve their planned goals. 

Also during the meeting: 

• Heritage Academy in Jerome was authorized to add grades 9-12 to its existing K-8 program. The expansion will roll out over the course of several years.
• The commission discussed the plan to review policies to streamline reporting requirements for charter schools in light of HB 244.
• The commission voted to suspend the evaluation framework for alternative education programs for the current academic year while a rewrite of the metrics is completed.
• Alan Reed was re-elected as commission chair and Sherrilynn Bair was re-elected as vice chair.
• No one signed up for public comment.

The Idaho Public Charter School Commission meets on the second Thursday of each month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 12 at 9 a.m. The meetings are live streamed on YouTube.