January 31, 2005
Contact: Luci Willits (208) 332-1591

CHARTER COMMISSION TO CONSIDER THREE SCHOOLS

BOISE - The Idaho Charter School Commission will meet February 2 at Boise State University to consider three charter schools. Commissioners will also go before the Senate Education Committee for their confirmation hearings.

The commission meeting begins at 8 a.m. at the Lookout Room at BSU. The Commission agenda includes:

Liberty Charter School: The school, currently operating in the Nampa School District, is asking to be placed under the jurisdiction of the Commission.

Taylor’s Crossing: Organizers are asking the Commission to approve a new K-12 charter school located in Idaho Falls. In addition to the fundamentals of reading, mathematics and writing, the school intends to strongly focus on American history, the Constitution and character education. The Board of Directors of the proposed charter school submitted a petition to the Bonneville School District in November and claimed the district did not make a good faith effort to review their petition.

Renaissance School of the Arts: The proposed charter school’s curriculum utilizes the arts to teach Idaho standards in grades 7 to 12. Petitioners approached the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District for authorization and the district referred the petition to the Idaho Charter School Commission.

At 3 p.m. on February 2, Commission members will head to the State Capitol to appear before the Senate Education Committee as part of their confirmation hearings. Members attending the hearing will be: Bill Goesling, Marianne Donnelly, Kirk Miller, Paul Powell, Ann Souza and Esther Van Wart. Chairman Jim Hammond went before the Committee on January 24 and has been approved by the full Senate.

To view the agenda, go to: http://www.chartercommission.id.gov.

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