State seeks parental voice in charters

State education officials want to make sure parents have a strong voice on charter school governing boards in Utah — even though most of the schools are already being run by parents.

The Utah Board of Education's law and policy committee has proposed a new rule that would require all charter school governing boards to have at least one elected parent representative.

That member would have to be chosen from among parents of students currently attending the charter school and would be a voting member on the charter school's governing board.

Also, a minimum of 25 percent of a charter governing board would have to be parents.

Initially the state charter board proposed a rule that would require at least one parent on every board — either appointed or elected. But the state's law and policy committee redefined the rule to ensure at least one parent-member would be elected.

"The board just wanted to make sure parents had input and this satisfies a rule in charter law that says parents will have a say in the administration of the school," said State Charter Director John Broberg.

Many of the founders of charter schools in Utah are parents. However, at a few schools, such as those created by community arts leaders, parents are currently absent from decision-making.

Dave Moss, State Charter School Board president, said the charter board supports the new proposal and that it is in line with the charter school philosophy.

"When the charter law first went into the books in 1998, that was the spirit of the charter school movement — to be able to have that parental involvement," Moss said. "This would specify that parents could have the opportunity if they chose to be involved in the day-to-day operation of the school — it would go beyond being in charge of a volunteer group that would maybe be involved in fund-raisers and things like that."

The state board will also be voting on another rule proposed by the State Charter Board that would require those wanting to start a school to get state-approved charter school training before applying for a charter.

That training would provide more information on what to expect when establishing a charter school — including procedures, financing, governance and assessment.

"We've had some boards, after they set up a school, say 'Whoa what are we doing?' " Broberg said. "It would just give (would-be) charter leaders an idea of what they are getting into."

The state board will vote on the new rules next month.

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