1 of 3 charter schools OK’d

A proposed charter school to serve Ewa Beach families got the green light Thursday from the state Public Charter School Commission, but two other Oahu schools were rejected.

DreamHouse Ewa Beach, which is described as focusing on local leadership development and identity affirmation, will now enter a pre-opening phase with plans to begin operations for the 2018-19 school year.

The school would add to 34 existing charter schools and two new startups set to open in the fall. Charter schools, which currently educate 10,600 students, are largely funded with taxpayer dollars through per-pupil funding. The schools, which report to their own governing boards, are independently run under contracts with the commission.

Alex Teece, a co-founder of DreamHouse who will serve as the school’s director, said he was humbled by Thursday’s decision. The school’s founding team — which includes former public school teachers — unsuccessfully applied for a charter last year before returning to the commission with what they described as an improved application.

An evaluation panel consisting of commission staff and volunteer experts, however, had deemed all three of this year’s applications insufficient and recommended they be denied for failing to meet benchmarks in one or more of four core areas: academic, financial, organizational and evidence of capacity.

DreamHouse’s application hit the academic and organizational targets but fell short in its financial and capacity plans, the evaluators said. Some commissioners cited concerns about the school’s financial plan, which evaluators believed relies too heavily on unsecured donations and grants during its first few years.

The commission, which has a statutory mission “to authorize high-quality public charter schools throughout the state,” ultimately voted 5-2 to approve a charter for DreamHouse.

“I think the first word that comes to mind is ‘humbled,’ not only by the process, but by our experience as a founding team,” said Teece, who taught at Ilima Intermediate and later studied at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership. “This started in classrooms in Ewa Beach years and years ago, a dream to work with the community, children and families to build another option in a growing community.”

The school plans to start with 100 students in grade 6 and add grades each year through high school. Supporters said now that the school’s charter has been approved, DreamHouse will work to secure a facility and additional startup funding.

Meanwhile the commission voted 5-3 to deny the charter application for IMAG Academy, which has unsuccessfully applied to the commission three other times to open a school in Waipahu. Evaluators found this year’s application did not meet standards in three of the four areas, hitting only the academic benchmarks.

Sheila Buyukacar, IMAG’s proposed school director, was visibly discouraged after the decision and said she does not plan to apply again. She said it’s unfortunate the school will lose a $750,000 multiyear startup grant it had secured through the U.S. Department of Education.

“It’s very sad,” Buyukacar said afterward. “We’ll be trying to figure out the why.”

During deliberations, several commissioners expressed concerns about IMAG’s proposed partnership with a local nonprofit that manages three existing charter schools. Because the application process does not allow schools to refine their proposals once an application is submitted, IMAG was faulted for not articulating in its original application how a partnership with Ho‘okako‘o would work.

There also was some hesitation about the school’s ability to handle simultaneously launching multiple grade levels. IMAG’s plan called for enrolling students in kindergarten and grade 1 as well as 6 through 9 in the first year, before eventually expanding to serve all grade levels.

“We have to look at the plan that was submitted at the time it was submitted. Otherwise, we should approve everyone and give them the opportunity to fix it along the way,” commissioner Roger Takabayashi said. “We’re supposed to be approving high-quality charters from the get-go, and not expecting high quality in the end.”

He added, “Starting up a charter is unlike starting up any other business. Everything has got to be in place. … I have a hard time recommending approval unless all the T’s are crossed all the I’s are dotted. There’s no fix-up later.”

The commission also voted unanimously against North Shore Charter School, a first-time applicant seeking to open a campus in Haleiwa to serve students in grades 7 and 8. Evaluators said the application did not meet the standards in any of the four areas.

The school’s supporters said they plan to use the feedback to improve their application and try again next year or the following year.