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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- An Oregon virtual charter school which serves hundreds of students is in danger of losing its state funding.
The Oregon Department of Education said the Scio-based Oregon Connections Academy, which is run by the for-profit Connections Academy of Baltimore, has violated state law by requiring parents to serve as learning coaches as a condition of student enrollment.
The department also said the school, which uses the Internet, mail and telephones to deliver lessons, must use a lottery rather than a policy of admitting students on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Until both issues are addressed, state money will be held in an escrow account, the Department of Education said in a letter to Gary Tempel, superintendent of Scio School District, which chartered the academy.
Charter schools are public schools that operate semi-independently under a charter or contract with a school district or the State Board of Education.
The year-old school, which has about 1,200 to 1,500 students this year in kindergarten through 10th grade and has a 50-to-1 student-teacher ratio because it teaches lessons online, receives about $5,000 per student -- or $6 million a year -- in state support. The next of its 10 payments from the state is due Sept. 15.
Jim Thomas, Connections Academy principal, told The Oregonian that he has asked the state for 60 days' time to work out changes that will bring the school into compliance.
In reviewing the school's application for a federal grant this spring, state officials noted that the academy was making parent involvement a criteria for admission, asking parents to sign a contract agreeing to act as learning coaches.
The state attorney general's office has said a charter school can use only age or grade level as a condition for enrollment.
The school can fix the problem by strongly recommending, but not requiring, parents to participate, said Randy Harnisch, a policy advisor to state schools superintendent Susan Castillo.
The school can resolve the other violation by abandoning the practice of admitting students on a first-come, first-serve basis and using a lottery instead. It has used that policy because the virtual school has not reached its capacity of about 2,000 students, said Thomas, the principal.
State Rep. Linda Flores, R-Clackamas, chairwoman of the House Education Committee, said she was disappointed by the Department of Education's "heavy-handed tactics" in withholding funds from the school, and said the state should not have waited until the first week of school to notify the academy of possible violations.
Harnisch said the department has no interest in attacking or closing the academy and wants to help it stay open.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
The Oregon Department of Education said the Scio-based Oregon Connections Academy, which is run by the for-profit Connections Academy of Baltimore, has violated state law by requiring parents to serve as learning coaches as a condition of student enrollment.
The department also said the school, which uses the Internet, mail and telephones to deliver lessons, must use a lottery rather than a policy of admitting students on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Until both issues are addressed, state money will be held in an escrow account, the Department of Education said in a letter to Gary Tempel, superintendent of Scio School District, which chartered the academy.
Charter schools are public schools that operate semi-independently under a charter or contract with a school district or the State Board of Education.
The year-old school, which has about 1,200 to 1,500 students this year in kindergarten through 10th grade and has a 50-to-1 student-teacher ratio because it teaches lessons online, receives about $5,000 per student -- or $6 million a year -- in state support. The next of its 10 payments from the state is due Sept. 15.
Jim Thomas, Connections Academy principal, told The Oregonian that he has asked the state for 60 days' time to work out changes that will bring the school into compliance.
In reviewing the school's application for a federal grant this spring, state officials noted that the academy was making parent involvement a criteria for admission, asking parents to sign a contract agreeing to act as learning coaches.
The state attorney general's office has said a charter school can use only age or grade level as a condition for enrollment.
The school can fix the problem by strongly recommending, but not requiring, parents to participate, said Randy Harnisch, a policy advisor to state schools superintendent Susan Castillo.
The school can resolve the other violation by abandoning the practice of admitting students on a first-come, first-serve basis and using a lottery instead. It has used that policy because the virtual school has not reached its capacity of about 2,000 students, said Thomas, the principal.
State Rep. Linda Flores, R-Clackamas, chairwoman of the House Education Committee, said she was disappointed by the Department of Education's "heavy-handed tactics" in withholding funds from the school, and said the state should not have waited until the first week of school to notify the academy of possible violations.
Harnisch said the department has no interest in attacking or closing the academy and wants to help it stay open.
------
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
