Proposed hiatus would defer applications for 1 year

The state would halt acceptance of new charter school applications for a year starting next fall under a proposed hiatus before the Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission — a move advocates say would stifle growth of the local charter movement.

The commission’s executive director, Tom Hutton, made a recommendation to forgo new applications for the 2016-17 school year at the commission’s June 18 meeting, citing serious concerns about workload capacity next year.

"We’re not particularly wild about taking a year off from applications, but we have some real capacity issues," Hutton told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "We’ve been really wrestling with what to do."

Next summer, the state’s entire portfolio of existing charter contracts — covering 33 schools — is set to expire, meaning the commission would be taking up those contract renewals during the time when it normally would start accepting and reviewing new applications.

The commission’s annual application cycle is an involved process that spans close to a year once prospective applicants have been vetted and deemed eligible to apply for a charter.

For the 2013-14 application cycle, the commission received 15 so-called "intent to apply" packets and found 13 eligible to submit applications. Eight submitted applications and the commission ultimately approved one charter last year.

"When we look at months in the latter part of 2016 leading into 2017, assuming we had an application cycle, we would be in high gear, and what makes this year so unique is it’s the first time we’re renewing our entire portfolio, where one possibility is nonrenewal or probation" for existing schools, Hutton said.

Greg Richmond, president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, said hiatuses are unusual, but credited Hawaii’s efforts to transition toward a high-quality authorizing process by issuing performance-based contracts.

"A renewal process that covers 33 schools is a significant responsibility and an administrative burden. The commission’s recognition of this responsibility demonstrates its commitment to authorizing only high-quality charter schools throughout the state," Richmond said in a statement.

"One-year hiatuses are not common among authorizers, but they do happen," he added. "More commonly, moratoria and hiatuses occur for financial or political reasons."

The nine-member commission appears torn on the issue.

"I’m just uncomfortable with government making decisions like this," commissioner Kalehua Krug said at last month’s meeting. "It’s difficult for me to say, ‘We’re at capacity, so you guys wait.’ I think that’s our job. Our job is the applications."

He suggested the commission’s staff look for other sources of funding or seek partnerships to allow both the contract renewals and new applications cycle to happen simultaneously.

The commission postponed voting on the recommendation and asked Hutton to report back with possible alternatives.

Hawaii’s charter schools are largely funded with taxpayer dollars via per-pupil funding but are independently run under contracts with the commission. They report to their own governing boards rather than the state Board of Education.

Designed as laboratories for innovation in public education, charter schools educate more than 10,400 children across the state. Enrollment at charter schools has increased by nearly 30 percent over the past five years and now comprises 6 percent of the state’s public school population.

The commission entered into performance contracts with charters for the first time in 2013, in response to a state law intended to reform the charter system and better track academics and finances at the campuses, which have enjoyed much autonomy since the first charter opened in 1999.

Future contracts, which hold charters to annual performance targets, are expected to be staggered to prevent a similar situation in the future.

Charter advocates say the proposed hiatus would prevent qualified applicants from launching innovative alternatives and giving parents more choices.

The commission is wrapping up its 2014-2015 application cycle and would start another cycle in the fall. The hiatus was proposed for the following year.

"I think it comes down to consistency," said Lynn Finnegan, executive director of the Hawaii Public Charter Schools Network, a nonprofit support and advocacy organization for charter schools, in an interview. "We’ve had such a shake-up adjusting to the new law and the commission’s new application process. As it is, it takes almost two years before a community can see whether their hard work will culminate in opening a charter school.

"Skipping a year would mean that local communities and charter management organizations that have proven to be of high quality, they would be forced to wait three years — and that’s a real disincentive," she said.

Taffi Wise, executive director of Kanu o ka ‘Aina Learning ‘Ohana, or KALO, contends a hiatus would conflict with the commission’s statutory mission.

KALO describes itself as an educational nonprofit that assists with Hawaiian-focused education. Roughly half of the state’s charters are Hawaiian-focused schools, where instruction and learning are grounded in Native Hawaiian values, knowledge, beliefs, practices and language.

"I totally agree with workload … but the law does completely state that the duty — the No. 1 duty under Act 130 — is to solicit and evaluate charter school applications. And the whole purpose of the law was to create genuine opportunities for communities to implement innovative models," Wise testified at the commission’s June 18 meeting.

Act 130, passed in 2012, overhauled the state’s charter law and tightened oversight after reports of questionable use of public money, possible favoritism in hiring of relatives, and poor academic performance at a few charter campuses. The law created the Charter School Commission, stating, "the mission of the commission shall be to authorize high-quality public charter schools throughout the state."

Wise said, "So I would challenge this body to rethink that process, using external support, perhaps … so that you can negotiate with each charter school in a rotating fashion, alleviating burden, and not cap the (new) charters."

Commission Chairwoman Catherine Payne clarified that the agency is not seeking to cap charter schools, as previous state law did at one time.

"We’re not talking about capping the number of charter schools in the state. We’re talking about a one-year, one-time only, not taking up applications. And after that year, there would be a staggered renewal process in place," Payne said.

Deena Fontana Moraes, whose application for a new charter school on Kauai is pending before the commission, said a hiatus could harm prospective applicants by prolonging an already rigorous application process.

She said she and co-organizer Dr. Kani Blackwell started their application "journey" two years ago to open an iLEAD Schools campus on Kauai. Their initial application was denied last year.

"It seems like it would be a challenge for people starting the process now to sustain that effort over a year when the application process is not open," Moraes said in an interview from California, where she is working as a leadership resident at the iLEAD campus in Lancaster to prepare her for the role of director of the Kauai school.

The nonprofit iLEAD Schools — an acronym for International Leadership, Entrepreneurial Development, Arts, Design — operates six charter schools in California that emphasize project-based learning.

"We’re really hoping the commission can see the strength of our application, the strength of our team and our growth over two years and the desire in the community," said Moraes, a Kauai High School graduate, who majored in psychology and holds a master’s degree in education.

"If our application were not accepted, we would have to wait another year before we could apply again, and if they decide to close the application cycle, that would be two years from now," she said. "Applicant teams who would want to apply that year would miss the opportunity to move their plans forward to affect public education in a positive manner."

Hutton said last week that after receiving feedback, his office, which has a staff of 21, may be able to avoid the hiatus.

"We’ve taken to heart the commission’s wish that we delve into it more and reconsider if there are other areas where we can cut back on time plowing into some other things in order to allow for an application cycle, which would be a desirable outcome," he said.

The issue is expected to be discussed again at the commission’s meeting scheduled for Thursday.