Provo District won't charter 2 schools

PROVO — Provo's school board voted just after midnight Thursday to deny applications for two new public charter schools that plan to open in the fall.

The five members of Provo City School District's Board of Education spent two hours exploring ideas that would make them comfortable approving district charters for a 350-student elementary school and a 35-student junior high.

Concern about potential liability issues and other unanswered questions finally scuttled the proposals, which failed in a 4-0 vote.

Officials with the Freedom Academy and Discovery Charter School said they would apply for state charters by Tuesday, which is the deadline for applications from schools hoping to begin operations in the next school year. The Freedom Academy is exploring the option of purchasing Maeser Elementary School, which the school board closed because of declining enrollment.

The Discovery Charter School hopes to house its small junior high in a small building in the city's East Bay area.

Board members said they wrestled with the decision for so long because they believed the schools would open with or without the district's approval. District staff members expect the State Board of Education to grant the charters.

"It should be our choice to have these charter schools operating in our school district," school board president Richard Sheffield said.

But Sheffield's own questions about the district's possible legal liability for the charters also worried other board members. The board explored the idea of conditionally approving the charters so they would have time to collect answers to their questions. Optimism about that option was overcome by fears that if negotiations between the board and the schools hit a snag, there wouldn't be time to secure state charters in time to open in the fall.

The school board had 45 days to consider the proposals, but members felt they needed more time to consider the first charter applications to come before the district.

"We have to marry somebody we've never met," said board member Carolyn Wright.

Darryl Alder abstained from the final vote after his motion for conditional approval failed. He also asked the other board members to postpone the vote and seek more information with the idea of holding an emergency session before the state deadline.