AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Charter School Commission on Tuesday opted against reconsideration of a failed virtual charter school application from Maine Virtual Academy.
Two commissioners who originally voted against the measure, J. Michael Wilhelm and Shelley Reed, did not move to reconsider the application. Under Robert’s Rules of Order, which are followed by the commission, only committee members who voted against a measure previously can open the door to reconsideration.
Reed said she is not interested in reconsideration because she believes officials from Maine Virtual Academy violated Robert’s Rules with an email that was sent to the entire commission, urging them to take the application up again.
“I almost put [it] in the realm of unethical behavior,” said Reed. “The applicant is not to have direct communication with commission members.”
Wilhelm said he feared reconsideration would create a precedent in which future failed applicants would keep appealing the commission’s decisions.
“Based on the advice of legal counsel, which I tend to follow, I think it wouldn’t be wise to reconsider,” said Wilhelm. “It creates a dangerous precedent. I think the charter commission’s rules are pretty clear about that.”
At its March 5 meeting, the commission denied MVA’s application on the same day that it approved another application from Maine Connections Academy, which is on track to open in the fall as the state’s first virtual public charter school. It takes five votes, or two-thirds of the commission, to approve a charter school application, so the 4-3 March vote in favor of Maine Virtual Academy was not sufficient to approve its application.
The reasons for the commission’s rejection centered on misgivings about training and governance, including the commission’s objection to Maine Virtual Academy’s vendor, Virginia-based K12 Inc., handling the hiring of teachers as opposed to Maine Virtual Academy’s board. There was also concern about the commitment of the organization’s board of directors to the project.
Peter Mills, a member of the board of directors for Maine Learning Innovations, which is Maine Virtual Academy’s parent organization, said he was disappointed with Tuesday’s decision and that he thought the commission would have been well within its procedures to reconsider the application.
“I thought we had a pretty good case,” said Mills after the decision. “Time was against us, though. It’s late in the season.”
Mills said the virtual school, which has been applying for creation since last year, was poised to fill its enrollment projections.
“There is tremendous interest,” he said.
That assertion was supported by new enrollment numbers for Maine’s other charter schools that were released Tuesday by Charter Commission chairwoman Jana Lapoint. All five schools have reached their enrollment targets and have waitlists of between 12 and 47 students.
Mills said he and others associated with Maine Learning Innovations are considering whether to reapply in the next round to be considered by the commission. To date, the commission has approved a total of six charter schools, including one for another virtual charter school, Maine Connections Academy, whose application was signed Tuesday. That means there are four slots left under the cap in the charter school law enacted in Maine of 2011. Local school districts also have the authority to create an unlimited number of charter schools though none has done so to date.
Maine Connections Academy now has the official go-ahead to hire a principal and teachers.
A member of the school’s board, Amy Linscott, said Monday that school officials have narrowed their principal search to several applicants. Once a principal is hired, the school will begin the process of hiring teachers.
Maine’s first virtual charter school had received over 150 intent-to-enroll applications on Tuesday, school board chairwoman Rep. Amy Volk, R-Scarborough, said. The school needs between 243 and 297 to open, but included in the contract signed Tuesday is language that gives the commission discretion to determine whether to allow the school to open if it does not reach that 243 mark.
About 20 parents and prospective students attended an information session for the charter school in Bangor on Monday night. They asked questions about opportunities for the students to socialize, school vacations and about how teachers keep students accountable.
At least one parent in attendance indicated his intention to sign his child up for the school.
BDN writer Nell Gluckman contributed to this report.
