Plans for new charter school in works

In the wake of Sierra Crest Academy's charter revocation, which was effective June 30, supporters of the closing school are banding together to form a new charter school in Carson Valley.

On Wednesday, former Sierra Crest board member Renee Sweeney said about 10 parents and at least two teachers from Sierra Crest are meeting Tuesday to form a committee and develop a new charter.

"We're not going to give up," she said. "We need a charter school here."

On June 8, the Douglas County School Board voted 4-2 to revoke Sierra Crest's 6-year charter. Sponsored by the Douglas County School District, the school came under fire for several compliance issues, chief among them a lack of curriculum and inadequate attendance reporting.

Despite the loss, Sweeney said, it's time to move on.

"This is not Sierra Crest Academy. We are starting completely over with a new charter," she said. "What we are doing is taking away what we learned from Sierra Crest Academy, the good and the bad, and we are using that information."

Sweeney said the new charter would be "performance-based," though still with a project-learning component.

"When a student enters a school, they come with a certain level of ability," Sweeney said. "We would start building from that level, not necessarily at grade-level or age- level, but from where they are in ability."

Sweeney said the key to a new charter is organization.

"The structure has to be more capable of addressing the needs of more than one population of students," she said.

She said Sierra Crest's charter was originally designed for high-achieving, gifted and talented students, but that the school gradually attracted more at-risk youth.

"It wasn't a good fit," she said. "We're trying to make sure a new program could handle both at-risk students, gifted and talented students, and everyone in between."

Sweeney said many details have yet to be worked out, including a name for the new school. She said an application for state sponsorship must be submitted by Sept. 1 if the school were to open in the 2011-12 academic year. Additionally, a letter of intent must be submitted 15 days before the application.

Sweeney also said the committee, set up like a governing board, needs to include three teachers; the rest of the committee can be made up of parents and community members.

"If comes down to it, if there's too much to put together and we don't make the Sept. 1 deadline, then we'll be shooting for next year," Sweeney said. "We're not giving up on the idea."

Sweeney said a new charter was discussed among Sierra Crest supporters as early as February.

"If option A was trying to keep the school open, then option B was trying to form a new charter," she said.

Nonetheless, the revocation process was difficult for many parents, she said.

"There is a sense of loss at this point," she said. "A lot of people right now don't know what to do with their kids."

While Sweeney believes there is "no one strong option" for the more than 60 displaced Sierra Crest students, she said the school district has been helpful in the transition.

"They've been very supportive," she said. "Even going forward with a new school, we're talking about kids having to adjust, and I don't know if we're able to help the kids we have right now, but there are a whole lot of kids out there who need help."

The committee's first meeting is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the former Sierra Crest campus, 1701 Lucerne Street, Minden. For more information, contact Sweeney at 781-9490.