Aurora Borealis Charter School renewal application advanced

Aurora Borealis Charter School’s charter renewal application was advanced to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education during a Monday meeting of the Charter Oversight Committee, a week after that body asked the school for more information about special education, transportation and meal service.

Aurora Borealis is seeking routine renewal of its charter starting in the next school year and stretching through the 2035-2036 school year. They will next be heard during a Nov. 4 work session of the school board.

During an Oct. 14 meeting, committee members asked about funding received for special education programming despite the lack of many students or defined infrastructure to support them at the school. They also asked about the lack of transportation and food service options, which can accommodate lower income families.

The school’s academic policy committee was “extremely disappointed” by the asks of the district, committee chair Daniel Mahr said on Monday. The questions asked by the committee during the first meeting, he said, represented “accusations and attack” on their charter in the public sphere.

Mahr in a letter posted to Facebook called on parents to attend the meeting and “fill” the room.

The school was backed on Monday by nearly 100 supporters, whom Aurora Borealis Principal Cody McCanna described as parents. Every seat in the Betty J. Glick Assembly Chambers was filled — with audience members spilling out of the doorways.

“It will send a loud and clear message that the parents of ABCS do not appreciate being attacked by our own school board and painted so negatively to the community when you clearly don’t know very much about our program,” Mahr’s letter read.

A charter renewal, according to information shared by KPBSD Assistant Superintendent Kari Dendurent at the beginning of the Oct. 14 meeting and provided to the Clarion, is intended to verify that the school is financially healthy, has a sustainable model and seeks to “meet or exceed” academic standards established by the district.

Meeting special needs

The committee last week said that there are only five students at Aurora Borealis Charter School with individualized education plans, compared to an enrollment of 200. That means that Aurora Borealis’ population of students with individualized education plans represent only 2% of the student body, to a districtwide average of 20%.

Aurora Borealis has staff or has access to staff who can provide special education services, McCanna said Monday.

Mahr targeted the discussion on Oct. 14 surrounding funding for special education at Aurora Borealis. On Oct. 14, KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland said “about $380,000 comes to ABC for special education services,” citing funding received by the school as part of the foundation formula, which includes modifiers for special needs funding — described in a document published by the State Department of Education and Early Development as providing for vocational education, special education, gifted education and bilingual education.

According to Aurora’s charter renewal application, they are receiving funding based on modifiers for special needs funding as well as for providing vocational and technical instruction.

Mahr asked Liz Hayes, the district’s executive director of finance, whether the school receives “one single dollar” for special education services. She said that the funding does include that “special ed factor,” but that there’s no requirement that any of the money be spent on special education.

In response to committee questions, the language in the renewal application was modified between Oct. 14 and Oct. 21. Where formally it said the school will review individualized education plans of any newly enrolled student to determine “if Aurora can meet the student’s individual learning needs,” the new language says they will assess student needs and provide services to meet them within the scope of the IEP.

Committee Member Virginia Morgan, who had asked about special education programming at the school on Oct. 14, on Monday said the new language is a “great improvement.”

Accommodations limited by logistics

Mahr also discussed the questions surrounding transportation and food service, specifically questions as to whether the lack of both at Aurora might be a barrier to low income students.

McCanna said on Oct. 14 that the reason for both of those programs being absent from his school is because that’s the way parents want it. In 1997, he said, Aurora Borealis was started by homeschool parents who wanted “parental involvement” as a core pillar. Those parents, he said, didn’t want their kids on busses and wanted all parents to send their kids with lunch.

“Those two things, from the very start, were a foundational piece,” McCanna said.

In both of those instances, the committee on Oct. 14 asked McCanna to inquire as to what the options might be at the school for consideration at the Monday meeting.

On Oct. 21, Mahr said that he and McCanna found that 65% of students at the school come from outside of its bussing area. He said that number was actually determined the last time the charter was renewed seven years ago.

Mahr said that the school doesn’t have a kitchen for food service and that not all of Aurora’s parents “believes in the National School Lunch Program.”

Routine questioning

Mahr said that Aurora Borealis doesn’t “think less of low income families,” instead that it serves them with by emulating a private school education in the public school system, potentially serving students who can’t afford private school.

Mahr said that the district hadn’t indicated any issues with Aurora Borealis before the Oct. 14 meeting, citing specifically two annual reviews that say “no concerns.”

“We, the Aurora Borealis Charter School APC, are confused as to why we do not have the support of our own school board as the top performing school in the district,” he said. “The only thing your board has to say to ABC is ‘thank you.’”

Holland said that it’s important to have questions asked, noting, “I don’t think there’s any intent, from anybody I spoke to, that we’d ever deny this charter.”

McCanna said that the language about special education services in the application had been modified, as well as some language in the student handbook about grade placement.

Morgan, whom Mahr repeatedly referred to in lines of questioning on Monday, said that she was happy to see changes made that addressed concerns.

“I am very proud of the choices and the opportunities our kids have in this school district,” she said. “What I do feel is important for me to do is ask the hard questions.”

Charter Oversight Committee Chair Patti Truesdell said that the committee’s role is to ensure questions are asked and answered, speaking for the wider community. That doesn’t mean, she said, that they had damaging intentions for the school — “I love our charter schools.”

“There can be no doubt that your school has done wonderful,” she said. “Some of these questions, I think, are valid and you answered them.”

The committee without objection moved Aurora Borealis’ renewal application to the Nov. 4 work session of the full KPBSD Board of Education.

A full recording of both meetings will be available at the KPBSD BoardDocs site.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.