ALPINE — Mountainville Academy may have put parents in tears and the State Office of Education on guard by failing last month to notify the public before firing three teachers and pushing the sixth grade into middle school, but it acted within its rights.

"We determined, through our examination of their records and charter, that the school did not violate any laws," said Brian Allen, chairman of the State Charter School Board, after the board closed its investigation of Mountainville Academy last week.

Board members were careful, however, to discriminate between their ruling that the Alpine charter school didn't do anything illegal and their assessment of the matter.

"I think the situation could have been handled better than it was," Allen said.

It was "unfortunate," he said, that the school did not tell parents about its dire financial situation before deciding to take such drastic measures. The school went over budget by $300,000 last year and was on target to spend $250,000 more than planned this year.

"We just felt communication between the school and the public could improve," Allen said.

The State Charter School Board recommended members of Moun?tainville Academy's board of trustees take a training course on the Open and Public Meetings Act. They should also brush up on their budgeting and finances, Allen said.

Mac Sims, chairman of Mountainville Academy's Board of Trustees, said board members already take a yearly course on the Open and Public Meetings Act, however. He attributed the trouble between parents and administrators to a "misunderstanding."

The board deliberately met in small committees while discussing the change so it wouldn't have to include the community, he said. The law only requires a notice if a majority of the board is in attendance.

"Fundamentally, there was a key decision made that the board would look at options and proceed confidentially," Sims said. "Our intention was to not disrupt teachers in the classroom."

Since the start of the state's investigation, though, the school is working hard to be transparent. The Board of Trustees met with the community this week to discuss how the sixth-grade students are adjusting to being in middle school.

"We're obviously learning a lot through this process," Sims said. "We are going to be tightening up a lot of things."

The State Charter School Board is in the process of putting together online training to help all charter school board members get informed. Issues with the Open and Public Meetings Act aren't uncommon, Allen said.

"We have a lot of parents and people who are not professional educators sitting on our charter school boards," he said. "We need to make training more available so they can be sure they are not running things inadvertently and innocently against the law."

E-mail: estuart@desnews.com