February 13, 2007

Mosier school examines district’s list of concerns
Points of contention stem from wrong information, or need for communication, principal contends

By ED COX
of The Chronicle

      The Mosier Community School administration has made a first public response to reasons — as yet not fully disclosed — that North Wasco County School District 21 gave for not renewing the school’s charter on Feb. 8.
      At last night’s well-attended meeting of the Mosier school board, its attorney, Steven Seymour, sounded a cautionary note about first impressions before principal Carole Schmidt gave a series of examples of, and comments on, points in the letter the District 21 board provided to Seymour via its attorney.
      The Mosier board declined to disclose the letter — which Seymour said was six pages long, single-spaced — until it has time to work up a rebuttal and “put it in some context.”
      Schmidt said it should be available in the school office later this week or early the next.
      Still, her remarks highlighted several points of contention, most of which she argued were either results of misinformation or easy to solve through better communication.
      For example, she said, the district had complained that the Mosier school had failed to provide it with copies of building use permits — required when the school premises are used for outside events, such as birthday parties.
      That is true, said Schmidt, adding that while she had never been asked for the copies, she was happy to provide them.
      She responded to an apparent charge that the school’s annual report was not filed in a timely manner by pointing out that the school’s audit occurred after the filing date required by the charter. That, she indicated, means the charter can be improved.
      In response to reported claims that the school had not provided District 21 with proof of insurance, she said Mosier’s insurance carrier is the same one the district uses, and the carrier had provided proof of Mosier’s insurance directly, at the same time the district received its own.
      She said the school district board had also cited issues of improper procedure in certain improvements that the school has made, “including the recent asphalting project,” which she said has not taken place.
      “I know the project they’re referring to,” she said, “but we haven’t done it, and we have their board’s permission to do it.”
      In response to contracting issues apparently raised in the letter, Schmidt assured the audience, which included one District 21 principal and an administrator, that “we don’t want to hold District 21 to any binding contract.”
      She said a questioned lighting project, which included the installation of solar panels, was undertaken with Chenowith District approval and at no cost to either that district or the current one.
      She did admit, however, that some minor changes made near the end of the project — like the addition of occupancy sensors that turn off the lights when no one is in the room — were not approved.
      “We can work with that,” she said. “That’s not a problem.”
      As to apparent concerns on the part of District 21 about the school’s financial stability, now that initial start-up grant money is no longer available, Schmidt said: “These funds don’t have to be replaced because we’ve finished starting up. We’re running.”
      Finally, she cited a state attorney general ruling of Jan. 19 to rebut what she said was a complaint on the part of the district that the Mosier school had failed to run a state or district-approved English Language Learning (ELL) program.
According to the ruling, she said, charter schools are not required to run a credentialed program, but simply one that produces satisfactory results.
      “We have done that,” she said.
      Seymour said 15 of 18 points he had isolated in the letter had at their core communication issues. “Those are really easy issues to address,” he said.
He said measures for improved communication are also among the changes Mosier board has proposed to the district, explaining that he had sent a letter requesting that monthly meetings between a district and Mosier school representative be provided for in the charter.
      He said he was “encouraged ... that the District 21 board is inviting negotiations that will hopefully result in the continuation and improvement of this school.”