“Aren’t you just experimenting with our kids?”
It was December 1992. A one-day
conference to explore the charter school model for Colorado. Key figures who
helped charter school legislation pass in Minnesota and California had been
invited to share their stories and address questions about this new option for
public schools, one granting them greater autonomy. An important day in the
history of charters in our state. Several state legislators were present. Six
months later Gov. Roy Romer signed the Charter Schools Act into law.
Skeptics of the charter idea were also
present that day. I recall one harsh line. A nasty question. “Aren’t you
just experimenting with our kids?” Such a loaded word - “experimenting.”
Hard to forget.
|
Questions to ask: (pages 3-5) 1. Of the schools themselves and their founders/board members. 2. Of authorizers. 3.
Of all (of us) who review charter
applications prior to their approval. |
I never thought it was the case. (I taught in a
charter school that has just completed its 27th year, one of 60
charters in Colorado now in their third decade. Experiments? Not at all.)
I still do not think it is the
case. And yet recent stories of charter schools that open—and close—in a short
time span invite the question. Four examples, three in Denver, one in Aurora:
· 4 years: Roots Elementary – opened in 2015, closed at end of 2018-19 school year.
· 3 years: The Boys School of Denver – opened in 2017, closed at end of 2019-20 school year.
· 2 years: The Cube – charter approved in 2018, took an extra year before opening in 2019-20, closed last month after its second year.
· 1 year: Aurora Community School – charter opened in August of 2019, closed in June 2020.
(Addendum A includes excerpts from articles on their closure.)
|
Part 1- Of course these closures are part of a larger story.[i] In the past three
years, nine Denver charter schools have closed or announced that they
will. In that same time, six charter schools opened. However, one of the
schools that opened is now closing. The CUBE, an innovative hands-on high
school, will shutter after
just two years. The main contributing factors? Low
enrollment and trouble securing a permanent location. (Chalkbeat
Colorado, 3/23/21) |
All of us, especially advocates of the charter model, need
to ask why these schools do not survive. Are there lessons we can take from
this disturbing trend? We must do more to see that any school we open
has a strong chance of succeeding, of creating a community where families and
students can be confident the rug will not be pulled out from under them. If we
do not, if we send kids through a revolving door and back out again, that
haunting line—“aren’t you just experimenting with our kids?”—will hit a
nerve.
|
|
Year one – enrollment |
Year two –Enrollment |
Year three – enrollment |
Year four - enrollment |
Closure due to:* |
|
Roots Elementary |
(15-16) 86 students |
(16-17) 156 |
(17-18) 181 |
(18-19) 182 |
Enrollment and facility. |
|
SPF Rating |
Turnaround |
Improvement |
Turnaround |
To close |
|
|
SPF Rating
percentage |
Insufficient State Date** |
Insufficient State Date |
25% pts. |
37.7% pts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Boys
School of Denver |
(17-18) 87 |
(18-19) 150 |
(19-20) 140 (gr. 6-8) |
|
Enrollment. GALS board
decided to close the school. |
|
SPF Rating |
Performance |
Turnaround |
Turnaround |
|
|
|
SPF Rating
percentage |
Insufficient State Data ** |
53.9% pts. |
52.9% pts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Cube |
(19-20) 81 (gr.9) |
(20-21) 143 (gr. 9-10) |
|
|
See excerpt from article,
p. 7. |
|
SPF Rating*** |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aurora
Community School |
(19-20) 104 (gr k-2,6) |
|
|
|
See excerpt from article,
p. 7. |
|
SPF Rating*** |
|
|
|
|
|
*Source: Colorado League of Charter
Schools.
**Where there was Insufficient State Data, CDE’s SPF often
deferred to the district’s rating.
For example, Roots, 2016: “ROOTS ELEMENTARY was
designated Insufficient State Data due to no PARCC-tested grades served in the
school. DENVER COUNTY 1 assigned this school a Turnaround Plan type.”
The Boys School, 2018: “as a New School, DENVER COUNTY 1 has assigned this
school a Performance Plan type.”
From CDE - http://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/performance
***Due to COVID-19, School Performance Frameworks have been
canceled the past two years.
Goal: To be more responsible. To be more
cautious.
|
1. Charter Schools Act 22-30.5-102-Legislative declaration “2 (b) To increase learning opportunities
for all pupils, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for
pupils who are identified as academically low-achieving; “2 (c) To encourage diverse approaches to
learning and education and the use of different, innovative, research-based,
or proven teaching methods; “2 (f) To provide parents and pupils with
expanded choices in the types of education opportunities that are available
within the public school system.” |
We cannot eliminate
all risks. We are asking parents to take a leap of faith when a new option
opens up. Still, we can do more to minimize the risks. Let’s do everything
possible to ensure the school will be a good one—and will survive.
|
Part 2 - Of course these closures
are part of a larger story. Charter schools closed
in 2019[ii] 1. ROOTS Elementary School
(DPS) 2. Indian Peaks Charter
School (Granby) 3. Global Village Academy
- Ft. Collins 4. Frontier Charter
Academy (Calhan) Charter schools closed
in 2020 1. The Boys School of Denver 2. Aurora Community School 3. STRIVE Prep - Excel 4. Early College of Denver 5. HOPE Online Learning Academy (K-5) 6. Elevate Academy Elementary (Byers) |
“What about the kids?”
When Roots Elementary closed in 2019,
80% of its students were eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch, and 91% were
students of color.[iii] When Aurora Community School (ACS) closed
last year, 77% of its students were FRL eligible, 87% were students of color.[iv] Many charter schools in the metro area are
proving they can serve a student population like this exceptionally well.
But when schools like Roots and ACS close, we must acknowledge the additional
cost to their students. ACS once wrote of having “students excited to continue
their learning journey…” Instead, the journey ended. Not at all what
these kids needed.
For students, it matters
little why a school fails. It didn’t find that appropriate facility in time; it
couldn’t meet enrollment goals; it failed to provide a high-quality education program.
The result is the same. Closure puts the kids in limbo. They must “start” over,
again.
Let’s ask this too:
“What about the parents?” Many moms
and dads must walk away from these closures feeling guilty. How could we
have avoided this? How will this impact our child?
Just a few of the good
reasons to ask how all of us can avoid this.
I have no plan, only
questions, to help us consider why schools open and close so quickly. I have
heard from several involved with applications and the planning process. They
helped me formulate questions:
|
Part 3 Part of a larger story 37
charter schools in Colorado closed during the past decade, 2011-2020.[v] |
1.
Of
the schools themselves and their founders/board members.
2. Of
authorizers.
3.
Of all (of us) who review charter applications
prior to their approval.
Questions we might need to ask
|
2. https://coloradoleague.org/page/resourcestopic · Starting
Strong: Best Practices in Starting a Charter School · New
School Development Toolkit - NCSRC · Supporting
New Charter School Development Playbook - NAPCS · Creating
a Charter Startup WorkPlan - INCS · A
Charter-Building RoadMap - INCS · Charter
Startup Timeline Gantt Chart - CLCSS ** The Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers’ website features many good resources for charters readying their school to open: “Year Zero Guidance.” https://coauthorizers.org/document-type/year-zero-guidance/#. Two examples: CSI Year Zero Guidebook[vi] and DPS Year Zero Leader Guidebook.[vii] |
1.
Of schools – their founders and new board
How can you use the resources available from the Colorado League of Charter Schools; the Colorado Association of School Authorizers; the Colorado Department of Education;[viii] and the Colorado Charter School Institute,[ix] to name a few, to help you address the most essential tasks in order to open well? (See boxes 2 &3.
How can you do your best to invite others—those who have some expertise in new school development—to help you avoid blind spots, to anticipate key challenges, and to keep you from being too optimistic about financial issues or facility options? These last two items, as you must know, can be huge impediments to success in the early stages of the school.
Regarding enrollment and community buy-in: Have you done enough work and spent enough time in the community where you hope to locate your school? Has it been enough to justify your confidence that you will meet the proposed enrollment number?
And—it never hurts to double-check—can you be sure such predictions are not overly optimistic? (Relevant to a couple of the schools featured in this newsletter.) Your financial health, of course,
|
Other
useful resources for that planning year 3. ICSB Pre-Opening Checklist The Indiana Charter School Board (ICSB) provides newly approved charter school organizers this pre-opening checklist as a guide to ensure all required activities are completed prior to the first day of classes. This document, in conjunction with ICSB’s Start-Up Manual, includes the required action items, deliverables, and due dates for all pre-opening activities. https://coauthorizers.org/resource/icsb-pre-opening-checklist/ SUNY Governance Tips for Starting Up Right This guide developed by the State University of New York Charter School Institute (SUNY) helps charter school founding boards understand and accomplish some key governance tasks in the start-up planning year. https://coauthorizers.org/resource/suny-governance-tips-for-starting-up-right/ NACSA Pre-Opening Protocol NACSA provides a protocol for authorizer use in determining
pre-opening conditions for new charter schools. https://coauthorizers.org/resource/nacsa-pre-opening-protocol/ |
depends on your anticipated enrollment figures being plausible. “Hope is not a plan.” Be real. If your design cannot work without those numbers, is a one-year delay so bad—especially if it means you have a chance to open on a solid footing?
Founders, we respect how eager
you are to provide a better choice for underserved communities. How excited you
must be to open your school! You have spent years dreaming up this school,
hoping one day to bring to life all you have learned about a strong culture, a
great classroom… On the other hand, to be blunt, are you too zealous? Too
impatient? Can you listen to a third-party (your board, the League, your authorizer)
when they encourage a pause? When they tell you too much remains uncertain
and undefined? (Is this building, your 4th choice, really
going to work?) The pressure to open must be great. But is postponing for one
year so bad? Better to get this right.
2. Of
authorizers
The Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI) might well be a
model authorizer; after approving of a charter, it is central to CSI’s mission to
support their schools, to help them get off to a good start. Some districts
have also been diligent and supportive authorizers. The questions below are for
others. Denver and Aurora Public Schools opened the four schools featured here.
These questions seem relevant for them—for any district, really—where the
school board and/or district act like reluctant or indifferent authorizers.
1.
As the authorizer, do you see it as your role to
help this new school succeed? The students in a charter school you authorize
are still “district students,” yes? Students for whom you carry some
responsibility, true?
2.
We trust you want these students to have a good
experience and to get a good education. We trust you know how valuable it is to
provide students with stability in their K-12 journey. You are keenly aware of
the negative impact for so many kids who already experience high rates of
mobility, yes?[x]
3.
If your district leaders or your current school
board members have made known their reluctance to support more charters, or are
in fact outspoken in their opposition to charters, will that affect how you
carry out your responsibility as an authorizer?
4.
If there is a secret desire to see this charter not
succeed, should you have authorized it in the first place? Will you, in
fact, be inclined to allow a new charter—when it finds itself on thin ice—to
fall through the cracks? Who, then, is responsible for its “failure”?
|
“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you
are not innovating enough.” Elon Musk |
|
An experienced charter school
leader speaks of “finally
not having to put out fires” in the fifth year of her new school. |
Elon Musk can afford big risks. But “fail fast and fail often” is no motto for K-12 education. Agreed?
3.
Of all who review and critique charter
applications prior to their approval
Here is an unwelcome question, but I believe it must be asked.
If a charter school does not survive three or four years, should its application
have been approved in the first place?
|
Who will review the charter
application? Colorado
Charter Schools Frequently Asked Questions-https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdechart/faq |
Have many of us evaluating and providing feedback on charter applications been too lenient? Have we given a green light when a flashing yellow would have been more useful? Have we sensed when applicants have much more work to do before they have a strong proposal, and been too kind? When in fact we have been unkind—to all who will suffer the consequences of a short-lived school?
I made big bucks (just kidding) reviewing over a dozen
charter school applications for the Colorado League of Charter Schools
(2008-2015). I was part of a team of three asked to study and assess the merits
of a draft of a charter application. The League’s hope, ours too, was
that honest feedback from a group of “critical friends” would help improve the
application before a final version was written and submitted to the authorizer.
On occasion our team might send the message: The application looks weak. We
doubt that your application is ready to take to a district, not without
significant changes. But we had no authority. Applicants could ignore our
concerns. Their application might proceed to the district anyway.
Authorizers, of course, have a greater responsibility. I
assume good authorizers have a team evaluating each new school’s application.
And I trust that the local board has time to study and discuss the district’s
recommendations as to whether the charter application is strong. But is the
process working?
1.
Are all (of us) who study charter applications,
all who give constructive advice to the founders and board members prior to its
being submitted to the district, asking enough hard questions?
2.
Are we too forgiving of elements of the application
that seem ill-informed, naïve, or unclear? Are we too hopeful that there is
still time left for the school to tackle a long list of unresolved matters?
3.
And if this is happening, aren’t we, too—all of
us given a chance to be those “critical friends” for applicants—complicit in
the school’s failure to survive more than a few years?
Friendly or hostile? Those closest to this issue tell
me of another factor. It is how some view the appeal process. They assume the State
Board will overturn the local board’s rejection of any charter application. Is
this true? I merely ask: Local boards - Are you approving of applicants when
your better judgment would say the school is not ready, but you fear an appeal
to the State Board will go against you? And to the State Board - Are you being
“too friendly” to charter applicants when districts have done a good job
evaluating the merits of the proposal, and they determine the school is not
ready to open?
Quantity or quality – what is our
goal?
And finally, this larger question for my fellow charter
advocates and for funders (including the federal government; see the $1.8 million in start-up grants to these four schools[xii])
keen to enroll more students: Is our goal quantity or quality? I am
told: “the pipeline for new charters is closing.” If true, that is no reason to
lower our standards. Let’s open charters that can stand the test of time. Wouldn’t
that be best for all?
**
(A belated) confession. I am not innocent on this
issue. I have been party to a failed effort. I was (briefly) the acting
director of Alpine Charter School (in Dillon) a couple of months before it
opened in 1996. It did welcome students that fall. (I was gone by then). After
three years, it closed. I felt a bit foolish. What had I not seen? Not asked?
But that was selfish. Now, many years later, I realize my confusion and dismay
were nothing compared to what Alpine’s students experienced. We, the adults, let
them down.
Let’s take steps to be more responsible in how we open new schools.
I believe the state of charter schools
in Colorado, overall, is healthy; the short life-span of the four
schools in AV #234 is not typical. Still, it should not happen this often. Besides,
this is not 1996. The charter world, including good authorizers, has learned a
lot since then. Please tell me we are not as foolish as (some of us were) 25
ago.
The stakes are high. A school is not where we “test” something out on the lives of 150 or more Colorado boys and girls for a couple of years, only to see it all fizzle and disappear. For choice and charter advocates, that was never the goal.
Addendum A – News articles on the
closure of four charter schools
Roots Elementary - closed after 4 years
“Roots Elementary, a small Denver charter school with
big ideas, will close this spring,” by Melanie
Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado, Nov. 14, 2018.
“As we looked ahead to next year and beyond
as a stand-alone school, we recognized that without a significant increase in student
enrollment, which is unlikely given the neighborhood trends, we would not have
the resources needed to provide the rigorous program emphasizing our core
values of grit, relationships, ownership, and wonder (GROW) that our scholars
deserve.”
Roots opened in 2015 with a drastically different model that had kindergarteners and first-graders using iPads to
navigate personalized schedules, and an ambitious goal of better serving
students in a historically low-income neighborhood that was rapidly
gentrifying.
This year, the school has just 182 students
enrolled in kindergarten through fourth grade. (Roots does not have fifth
grade; it would have added it next year.) That’s 39 fewer students than it
projected it would have, according to a district document.
The Boys School of Denver – closed after 3 years
“Boys School Closing After First Continuing Class,” by Sabrina Allie, The Denver North Star, March 13, 2020
The Boys School of Denver (BOYS) board of directors
voted Feb. 18 to close the school at the end of this school year, the same year
its first complete class will continue on to high school. The all-boys middle
school (grades 6 through 8) first opened in 2017 in the West Highland
Neighborhood.
The decision came the same night Denver
Public Schools’ SchoolChoice enrollment numbers came in, showing projected
enrollment for the 2020-21 school year would dip below 100 students.
Because public school funding is tied to
enrollment, the school said the combination of low enrollment and increasing
expenses made continuing to operate the school “unsustainable.” The school
had also struggled with finding a long-term location, opening three years ago
in the Riverside Church at I-25 and West 23rd Avenue and relocating this school
year to Renewal Church at West 32nd Avenue and Irving Street. https://www.denvernorthstar.com/boys-school-closing-after-first-continuing-class/
The Cube – closed after 2 years
“Denver charter school The CUBE will
close due to low enrollment,” by Melanie
Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado, March
10, 2021
A Denver charter high school focused on
hands-on learning will close at the end of this school year after it did not
enroll enough students to continue operating.
The board of directors of The CUBE High School voted Monday to close the 2-year-old school, which
currently serves 142 ninth- and 10th-graders.
Denver schools are funded per pupil.
Although The CUBE was able to attract financial donors, founder Bret Poppleton
said the school’s low enrollment, coupled with rent expenses, proved too much
to overcome. Unlike some Denver charters, The CUBE was not located in a
building owned by the school district. Instead, it was renting space in a Boys
& Girls Club.
The CUBE opened in fall 2019 in northeast
Denver. The idea for the school was unique. Instead of offering classes like
history or physics, the school has courses called The History of Rap or Smart
Rockets that are “mashups” of two or more academic subjects.
https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/10/22322282/denver-charter-school-the-cube-closing
Aurora Community School – closed after one year
“APS shuts down beleaguered Aurora Community charter school,” by Grant Stringer, The Sentinel, July 2, 2020
AURORA | Aurora Public Schools opted to shutter a nascent north
Aurora charter school this week after a year of uncertainty and — former
employees have said — chaos.
The APS school board unanimously voted June
30 to revoke its charter with Aurora Community School, a school that struggled
to build its own school location and, in the 2019-2020 school year, was operating out of a Crowne Plaza
hotel in Denver and then a church.
Superintendent Rico Munn
recommended that the school board revoke the school’s contract with the
autonomous, public school because it didn’t meet a June 1 deadline to occupy a
permanent location. The school also failed to meet budgeting requirements, school
district leaders said.
The Sentinel reported in January the school struggled to enroll enough
students and house them in classrooms, which, in turn, stripped the school of
funding that is allocated per-student.
The school opened in August 2019 with
kindergarten, first, second and sixth grades.
Slightly more than 100 students were
enrolled in October, according to the district — less than half of its
anticipated student enrollment of about 265 students spelled out in the
school’s contract and the later-reduced target of 133 students.
https://sentinelcolorado.com/news/metro/aps-shuts-down-beleaguered-aurora-community-charter-school/
Amendment B – Disruption: the human cost
Fast closure – and we were just getting started
(All
bold mine)
“No
longer fertile ground: Why the outlook for charter schools in Denver is changing,”
by Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat
Colorado, March 23, 2021.
… As a result, charter schools often have
to make hard decisions that can feel abrupt and heartbreaking to families whose
students are thriving there. School closures also cause real disruption
for students who have to scramble to find a new school.
“It was unreal when they told us we had a
week and a half to fill out our choice forms,” parent Tara Melinkovich said
shortly after The Boys School of Denver announced it was closing last year due to low
enrollment. All students, including her son, had to find new schools.
“I was bawling,” she said. “I not only
had to hold space for my child who was devastated, but I also had to hustle
and be like, ‘Where the hell am I going to send him next year?’” https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/23/22347026/denver-charter-schools-shifting-politics
“Moms of students at Boys School of Denver react to
charter school closing,” 9News.com – 2/26/2020.
“We
only have a week to figure out where we’re sending our kids…. These
moms only wished they knew of the (school’s) struggles sooner so they had a
chance to save it.” https://www.9news.com/video/news/education/moms-of-students-at-boys-school-of-denver-react-to-their-charter-school-closing/73-e1ab73ba-d758-437a-bf84-e666e40239cf
“Some Parents Struggling After Aurora
Community School Charter Revoked,” CBS Denver - 7/3/2020.
“Johnson-Lowe
is just one of the parents at Aurora Community School who is now scrambling
to find a new place for her 1st grader.”
“Parents lament the loss of Aurora Community School
after charter pulled,” by Sloan Dickey, Channel 9, 7/14/2020.
But the students will not step foot inside ACS. Before it even
opened, the school was shut down.
Families and teachers protested
the closure of the charter school in late June. It was approved just one year
earlier by the Aurora Board of Education as an alternative option for children
in the public school system.
**
Parents upset with the closure shared their hopes for the school
including an education program with a diverse faculty and staff, more
reflective of the students entering the classroom. They also saw the school as
a safe-haven for children with autism or difficulty socially adjusting to a
classroom environment.
"We have students that are disadvantaged; we have students that are
of color; we have students that have special needs that depended on this school
and this building," said Christina Cimino, a parent of a child with
autism. "They planted the seed and now my son has a love of learning. He's
growing, he's learning. He loves to go to school."
Once a charter is revoked, the decision is final.
"I know that it's tough, being a month or so away from the start of
school," she
said, "but unfortunately that's the decision that was made, and the board
is not in a position to reverse."
**
However, with one month until school reopens, parents at the school
have few options for their children who were enrolled. Though public school
is available regardless of registration, many parents at the ACS are
disenchanted with the public system.
“Denver
charter school The CUBE will close due to low enrollment,” by Melanie
Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado, 3/10/2021.
“We’ve put our lives into this place, truly, and this is a situation where we’ve built something really, really cool,” [founder Bret Poppleton] said. “This isn’t a situation of, ‘We have to close because things are bad.’ We have to close because there are these things that are insurmountable.”
https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/10/22322282/denver-charter-school-the-cube-closing
Endnotes
[i] “No
longer fertile ground: Why the outlook for charter schools in Denver is
changing,” Chalkbeat Colorado,
by Melanie Asmar, March 23, 2021.
“Nine Denver charter schools have either closed or
announced their closures since 2018. Roots Elementary; The CUBE High School; The
Boys School of Denver; DSST Henry Middle School; STRIVE Prep – Excel; Early
College of Denver; Cesar Chavez Academy; Venture Prep High School; Wyatt
Academy middle school.”
https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/23/22347026/denver-charter-schools-shifting-politics
[ii]
CDE’s summary (see Endnote v below) lists 8 closures in 2019. In fact,
only four schools shut down. In four other cases (Union Colony and Pinnacle
Charter) consolidation of school codes (e.g. combining the elementary and
middle schools into one) led to four fewer school codes.
[iii] CDE, 2018-19 Pupil Membership
[iv] CDE, 2019-20 Pupil Membership
|
|
Charter Schools Closed |
Total # of Charter Schools in
Operation |
|
2010-11 |
5 |
173 |
|
2011-12 |
2 |
183 |
|
2012-13 |
3 |
191 |
|
2013-14 |
5 |
202 |
|
2014-15 |
1 |
214 |
|
2015-16 |
3 |
226 |
|
2016-17 |
1 |
238 |
|
2017-18 |
3 |
250 |
|
2018-19 |
8 |
255 |
|
2019-20 |
6 |
261 |
|
|
37 |
Figures from 2010-11 to
2019-19 from Colorado Department of Education’s State of Charter Schools in
Colorado. Figures for 2019-20 via email from CDE and/or Colorado League of
Charter Schools. Other short-lived charter schools in this group of 37 include
Denver’s Manny Martinez Middle School (closed 2012), SOAR at Oakland
(closed 2014), Sims-Fayola International Academy and Venture Prep
Middle School (closed 2015).
[vi] Colorado Charter School Institute, https://coauthorizers.org/resource/csi-year-zero-guidebook/
[vii] Denver Public Schools, https://coauthorizers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/DPS-Year-Zero-Leader-Guidebook_2019.pdf
[viii] Colorado Department of Education, http://www.cde.state.co.us/choice/charterschoolbootcam
[ix] Colorado Charter School Institute, https://www.csi.state.co.us/new/
[x]
“Student Mobility: How It Affects Learning,” Education
Week, by Sarah D. Sparks — August 11, 2016, https://www.edweek.org/leadership/student-mobility-how-it-affects-learning/2016/08.
[xi] “How
Long Does It Take for a Small Business to Be Successful?” ZenBusiness
PBC. (Bold mine)
“In most cases,
companies tend to find success from the fourth year onward for
various reasons, including solid brand image,. efficient team management, and an expanding customer base. These
aspects of a business take time to grow and don’t usually manifest
overnight. Instead, they take hard work and planning along the way.” https://www.zenbusiness.com/how-much-time-for-business-to-succeed/
[xii] Start-up grants from the federal government – the
Charter School Programs (CSP) Grants* made to these four schools that ended up
closing not long after they opened. Taxpayer funds well spent?
Roots Elementary School - $531,850
The
Boys School of Denver - $529,554
Aurora Community School - $392,170
The Cube - $413,066**
$1,866,640
(First year data is at CDE – 2014, 2016, and 2018 Grant Competition Awardees - https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdechart/fundingawards. A thank you to CDE for providing these total figures, sent via email.)
*Charter School Programs (CSP) Grants to Charter School Developers for the Opening of New Charter Schools and for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools
**CDE: "Final exepnditure reporting for The Cube will not be complte until September 2021."
