SVVSD OKs charter school

Scott Rochat,Longmont Times-Call

LONGMONT — The St. Vrain Valley School District now has its first Montessori school.

The new charter school won unanimous approval from the St. Vrain school board Wednesday night. It will start classes next fall and expects to draw 90 students its first year.

“I think our district is recognizing that there’s a lot of different approaches that can be taken in education,” said Katie Torres, president of the Montessori school’s interim board. “Montessori is a well-regarded method.”

The approach is named for Maria Montessori, an Italian educator of the late 19th and early 20th century. It’s an interactive method that shapes the curriculum to the child, and often teaches many skills through physical activity.

Interested parents have been working on getting a Montessori school in Longmont for the past year. St. Vrain board member Rod Schmidt complimented them on their energy and thoroughness, and said he expected the new charter school to be “a vital, vibrant component of this district.”

Torres said the school hopes to grow out to 300 students in five years. She expects the school to be in central Longmont and said a number of sites are being looked at, but none have been chosen yet.

The school would be the fifth charter school in the school district. The nearest Montessori school is Community Montessori Elementary in the Boulder Valley district, which has a long waiting list.

The enthusiasm for a Longmont-based school has been there for a long time, Torres said.

“Now is the time to address the demand,” she said.

Pass or fail

The St. Vrain board also spent some time Wednesday reviewing what could happen immediately if voters pass a $16.5 million mill-levy override and a $189 million bond— and what might have to happen if they don’t.

If it passes, Haddad said, the district could immediately start working on hiring back the 85 full-time teachers and staff workers that were cut earlier this year, with many to start back in the fall. Recruiting for additional teachers could begin in the spring and “hot spots” have been identified where crowded classes could be shrunk.

Other keys for the first year, according to Haddad, would include:

• More funding into high-school Advanced Placement programs at the high schools and support for pre-AP classes at two of the middle schools.

• More custodial and maintenance staff could be hired as soon as January, including lawn maintenance and snow-removal workers.

• 13 campus supervisors could be added at the high schools and elementary schools immediately following the election.

• The district could begin implementing plans for “focus schools” on particular subjects, including a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program.

• Fiber connections could begin to be put in this spring and the district could add technicians.

On the other side of it, superintendent Randy Zila said, if the ballot issues go down, the district has to start cutting back on its plans, to avoid running a $600,000 deficit in the 2009-10 year. Capital improvement reserves would mostly go to critical repairs with little left over for technology or other improvements. Class sizes would probably go up, he said, and a bus transportation fee would probably have to go in place.

On top of that, Zila said, things like STEM and focus schools would probably fade quietly away. And rather than adding campus supervisors, the district might have to consider cutting back on school resource officers.

“When we talk about how the district would be taking on a new look if this fails — that’s not a positive thing,” Haddad said.

Board member Bob Smith said the district has done amazing things with what it has, but that there is a limit.

“We get above-average results while being in the rock-bottom of resources,” Smith said. “We are past the point of efficiency. We can’t possibly continue to be effective if this doesn’t pass. I don’t believe that we could.”

Financial report

In reviewing the district’s draft financial report, senior manager Jodie Cates of accounting firm BKD said that the district’s financial standing has been improving, but that its cash reserves are still far too low.

“The minimum we like to see is enough to cover one month of expenses,” Cates said. “The district is well below that.”

St Vrain chief financial officer Mark Pillmore said a typical month’s expenses for the district would be about $12 million or $13 million. Its uncommitted cash reserves are about $3.5 million.

“The district needs to work on improving that fund base and not just maintaining it,” Cates said.