“It is a familiar lament, whether it is the county’s budget season or not, that the Loudoun County Public Schools is going to have to continue to expand to serve the approximately 3,000 students who will enter the school system each year at a variety of grade levels. And with the county’s primary budget funding source coming from residential real estate taxes, and assessments dropping or staying relatively flat, Loudoun’s elected leaders are continuously faced with questions about where the money to build new schools or expand capacity will come from.
Over the years, the idea of promoting charter schools has been mentioned time and again as one way to relieve some of the burden on the budget, but state law and other regulations have proved to be significant hurdles. Now, a seemingly minor change adopted by the General Assembly during its past session has opened the door for charter schools a bit further, and one organization is jumping on the chance to offer alternatives for Loudoun County Public Schools and its students.
For the past several weeks, Arlington-based Imagine Schools has been quietly meeting with School Board members, county supervisors, and residents to garner the interest in having charter schools as an option in the county. Deemed a “Listening Tour,” Imagine Schools is planning to expand its efforts in the coming months to determine if Loudoun is indeed the right place for its first school in its home state.
‘We want to make sure that any school we open is one that is successful and well-attended,’ Roy N. Gamse, executive vice president of Imagine Schools, said. ‘It would be a big mistake if we came in like a bull in a china shop.’
Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run), who recently took a job with the organization, has not been involved in the Loudoun efforts.
According to its data, Imagine Schools has the largest enrollment of any charter school organization in the country, operating 72 schools in 12 states and Washington, DC. More than 40,000 students are enrolled in its schools, a larger enrollment than Norfolk public schools or the Richmond and Roanoke public school systems combined, Gamse said.
During the General Assembly legislative session the state government amended the law that placed the decision to approve or deny a charter school application solely with the local school district. In most states, if a school system denies an application there is another entity, such as the state government or the State Board of Education, where the denial can be appealed. But no such provision exists in Virginia.
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) proposed that charter schools be able to appeal local decisions, a notion that did not pass, but the General Assembly decided all applications will go to the State Board of Education for review before being heard by the local jurisdiction. While ultimately the decision would still lie with the local school system, having input from the state board might give an application more traction at the local level, Gamse said.
School Board Chairman John Stevens (Potomac) said Virginia law is still evolving and so there is much to be learned about charter schools and the impacts on localities and students.
“There is not a big base of knowledge to draw from here. There is a much larger base of knowledge nationally and that’s where we are looking,” he said.
Recently the Virginia School Board Association held a conference focused on charter schools, where School Board members from across the state could learn what the law says and what that means for localities.
Stevens said the most beneficial aspect was a panel discussion with the City of Richmond School Board, where a charter school just opened for the first time.
‘They gave advice about how to prepare if your School Board is anticipating hearing an application. They gave us all their documents. They were full disclosure,’ Stevens said. ‘Which is going to be very helpful for us as we work through this.’
Typically, charter schools are sought by a school system, or by parents, as an alternative to schools that may not be providing the education needs of students, something that has not been an issue in Loudoun.
‘In most cases we are going into areas where parents are desperate for alternatives. Loudoun County doesn’t fall into that category,’ Gamse said. Instead, the charter schools would seek to provide a solution to the fast-growing school system, potentially taking students from across the county into its classrooms.
‘We hope to learn if parents would be looking for schools with a different focus,’ Gamse said. ‘Our schools are not the same across the country. We design our schools to fit the needs of the local community. That’s part of our talking to parents. Is there an interest? With what type of focus?’
To that end, there are several different themes that Imagine Schools has implemented in various schools around the country. [See sidebar, Page 36]
Stevens said he is intrigued by the idea of charter schools in Loudoun, but noted it is important to understand why they might really be a necessary option.
‘When I started to get interested in this was when I started to look at last year’s [Capital Improvement Program]. We are budgeted to build 12,000 fewer seats for enrollment in Loudoun County than we expect to have enrollment growth over the next six years. It’s just alarming,’ he said.
While pointing out that charter schools would not be needed to provide a ‘better’ education than Loudoun County Public Schools, Stevens said he believes there might be room for another school in the county. ‘A different kind of curriculum or different approach to education might be better for one kid than another kid.’
Stevens said choice is something he would like to see offered throughout Loudoun County Public Schools, but acknowledged that would be difficult to achieve. ‘I would love to see us opening up our enrollment rules to allow parents to choose which schools their children go to and allow schools to offer different curriculum,’ he said. ‘But, for example, Sanders Corner [Elementary School] by itself couldn’t go and deviate from how LCPS does things…because then there are a whole bunch of kids who would get stuck with that decision because we say you have to go to that school because you live in that neighborhood.’
Charter schools, however, might be the answer for those who hope for that kind of flexibility. The school also would self-fund its construction, and have the option of re-using existing buildings that are not occupied, Stevens noted.
Discussions with Imagine Schools, however, are preliminary, he said, noting there are a variety of opinions about charter schools on the School Board, and much work remains to be done before it becomes a reality for Loudoun.
One area that already is getting much attention from parents is the idea of a full-day kindergarten, something on which the School Board and other elected representatives have been focused in recent years. ‘There is an early indication that would be an overwhelming interest for parents,’ Gamse said.
The most common grades for Imagine Schools is K-8, with schools typically starting with younger grades and eventually filtering up to the middle and high school levels.
Schools can vary in size, typically in the 600- to 800-student range, but Gamse said Imagine Schools would not just want to open one school and move on. The idea would be to open a number of schools in Loudoun over time, meeting a variety of needs in the community.
Charter schools are paid per student, to the same amount that the county spends per child. And unlike private schools, charter schools must take every student who applies, unless there is not room. In that case, a waiting list is started for interested parents. Charter schools also are held to the same educational standards as traditional public schools, with students required to take Standards of Learning tests and schools held to the federal Adequate Yearly Progress standards.
‘They have to build the same basis of knowledge for their students as any other public school,’ Gamse said, but added that Imagine Schools also tests its students at the beginning of every school year and again at the end. ‘We want to see how much has been gained in things like reading and math. We use those to determine how well a school is doing in helping the students to grow.’
Teachers, when hired by the charter school, also would become employees of Loudoun County Public Schools, held to the same standards as all other teachers in the county.
Last year, 69 of the 72 Imagine Schools had learning gains of more than one grade year.
The schools also focus on other aspects of education, including positive character development and the shared values of integrity, justice and fun.
‘In our schools those things are not just an aside. They’re a main part of learning,’ Gamse said. ‘It’s something they’re learning as well as the academic content.’
Each year schools are evaluated on their academic achievements, their shared values, their character development and their economic sustainability, as well as getting an overall school grade.
‘We have a track record that is very strong,’ Gamse said.
To learn more about Imagine Schools, visit www.imagineschools.org. For information on how to get a “Listening Tour” stop in your community, e-mail[email protected].”
Article published by Leesburg Today on Nov. 10, 2010.