At least two underperforming Denver charter schools could face closure votes and five others could be put on strict probation when the school board meets tonight.
District staff members are recommending the board place the seven charter and contract schools that have had academic problems on two-year probation with specific plans for improvement.
Some board members said they are fed up with the chronic problems at Challenges, Choices and Images and Denver Arts and Technology Academy, which serve a total of 1,030 students. They said they may vote to close them.
Other board members said they are equally frustrated with the lack of progress at Life Skills Center of Denver, an alternative school for chronic dropouts that serves 238 students.
“I’ve lost my patience with several of those schools,” said board member Bruce Hoyt, who would not identify ones he will vote to close.
“Rather than keeping the failing ones alive, it’s better for the system as a whole to close the ones that aren’t working,” he said.
In total, the board will vote tonight to renew contracts of 11 charter and contract schools that serve nearly 3,000 students.
Denver Public Schools staff members are using a new accountability framework that assesses student academic growth over time, attendance, whether the students are ready for college and the school’s financial wherewithal.
The staff is recommending five-year renewals for three schools: Denver School of Science and Technology, Academy of Urban Learning and Ace Community Challenge School. It is recommending a three-year renewal for Pioneer Charter School.
Forced closures do not happen often, said Jim Griffin, president of the Colorado League of Charter Schools.
“There is added pressure because Denver has closed mainstream schools because of performance,” he said. “That forces their hands on charter decisions.”
In the past decade in Colorado, he said, Denver Public Schools voted to close a charter school, Life Skills Center of Denver.
The school’s officials appealed to the State Board of Education and Denver’s school board reversed its decision, allowing the troubled school to continue under a one-year probation.
However, Life Skills has yet to show significant progress in student achievement, according to the district.
Only half of students attend regularly, and performance falls below targets set under the district’s probationary window.
Santiago Lopez, principal of Life Skills, said the school is slowly improving and attendance rates are getting better.
“Where are students going to go?” Lopez asked. “We truly serve those students who are extremely at risk . . . students who haven’t succeeded in a traditional setting or alternative setting.”
Districts across the nation tend to avoid closing charters because of the possible backlash, said Randy DeHoff, director of the state’s Charter School Institute.
“There are some charters that should have been closed several years ago,” DeHoff said. “Boards are reluctant to do so for political ramifications.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
