Check out the story (on p A-8 from the 1/22/15 Edition) about this week's School Board meeting that includes us!
A few thoughts about the article:
- We don't know if we'll be a district charter or a state charter yet. We'll have to decide that before July 1st, when we submit our charter. We'd love to be authorized by the local district, but ultimately it's up to them if they want to work with us in that way.
- We also don't know if we'd use district facilities. Certainly the ability to use an empty building like Church Rock Elementary School or Juan de Onate Elementary School would be easy for us and potentially helpful to the district financially, but again, that's up to the district and it's not guaranteed.
- I don't think it's fair to say that charter schools in New Mexico get $14,000 to $15,000 per student. There's no extra money that charter schools automatically get in New Mexico, and state funding is influenced by school size, student population characteristics (ELL, SPED, etc.), and other factors. Some charter schools qualify for a small school multiplier, but not all. When a small school (district or charter) gets some extra money to help pay for overhead, then they get more money per student, but often that money is necessary to help sustain a smaller school.
- We don't know if we'll be a district charter or a state charter yet. We'll have to decide that before July 1st, when we submit our charter. We'd love to be authorized by the local district, but ultimately it's up to them if they want to work with us in that way.
- We also don't know if we'd use district facilities. Certainly the ability to use an empty building like Church Rock Elementary School or Juan de Onate Elementary School would be easy for us and potentially helpful to the district financially, but again, that's up to the district and it's not guaranteed.
- I don't think it's fair to say that charter schools in New Mexico get $14,000 to $15,000 per student. There's no extra money that charter schools automatically get in New Mexico, and state funding is influenced by school size, student population characteristics (ELL, SPED, etc.), and other factors. Some charter schools qualify for a small school multiplier, but not all. When a small school (district or charter) gets some extra money to help pay for overhead, then they get more money per student, but often that money is necessary to help sustain a smaller school.