The Shawano School Board approved a new five-year contract for LEADS Primary Charter School on March 10 after two years of offering one-year extensions on the previous contract.
The new contract comes as the school is seeing increased interest in parents wanting to enroll in the special school housed within Hillcrest Primary School. Principal Aaron Manders reported that 29 families seek to enroll children in the 4-year-old kindergarten program, and only 10 have previously enrolled children in LEADS.
Currently, about 72 students are enrolled in LEADS, according to the district’s website.
“The plan right now is to have two different LEADS teachers (for 4K),” Manders said. “We have at least three staff members who are interested. I’m looking to see if we might be able to grow it at kindergarten, as well.”
Manders said he anticipates eight more families could be interested in enrolling in 4K at LEADS.
Shawano School District is also looking at potentially expanding the LEADS program to Olga Brener Intermediate School, as the charter school only extends to second grade.
“We are looking to grow the program and to expand,” Manders said. “We have some different ideas on what that might look like.”
Manders noted that a lot of work was put in to revamp the contract and make the charter school programs unique. He said that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has already approved the benchmarks set for LEADS, but the contract still required board approval.
“The big changes that you may notice from previous contracts are, first, we kind of revamped what LEADS means,” Manders said. “We really put a focus on what makes LEADS different from Hillcrest and wanted to make that something that’s catchier.”
LEADS has a mandate of providing environmental education, pushing for more family involvement, partnering with the community and making the curriculum community based, according to Manders. The acronym was changed to stand for Leadership, Exploration, Authentic learning, Discovery and School family. Previously, the acronym stood for Learning-style focus, Exploratory learning, Achievement for all, Differentiated instruction and Student-driven success.
Manders said that LEADS learning goals have changed, as well. Instead of being at an 80% benchmark for students being at grade level, the goal is to meet or exceed what Hillcrest students achieve.
The charter school has a board of directors, and the contract was changed to have more flexibility regarding the number of members. Originally set at five to seven, the board can now have anywhere from three to nine members.
“Right now, we’re in a good spot, but we want to make sure if there are more board members that want to be part of it, then they can,” Manders said.
He added that the board members have to have been in the community for at least two years and are parents with children enrolled in LEADS. The board meets at least six times a year, he said.
Taken out of the contract is a provision that, when there’s a conflict between parents and staff, the charter school board would provide the final decision.
“The administration will be taking care of that,” Manders said.
The contract also provides an additional month for enrollment, according to Manders, changing the existing 2 1/2-month period.
The contract was approved unanimously by the school board, but board member Tim Renard expressed concerns about the charter school having its own board despite the main school board being the ultimate authority over all school functions.
“I’m concerned about having a board within a board underneath us,” Renard said. “I’m concerned about whether there’s no overlap between that board and what this board is responsible for.”
Renard said his concern stems from the charter school utilizing a school building and resources.
Board member John Arens praised LEADS for having what he said was “a paradigm shift” in teaching.
“I would challenge you all to maybe try and immerse yourself into that method of teaching,” Arens said. “It’s not anywhere akin to what the Hillcrest teachers handle in their class. It can be life-changing for a lot of students in the inquiry-based program.”
With that said, Arens noted that he would prefer to see distinctly different reports about Hillcrest and LEADS instead of both schools being combined into one report. The uniqueness of LEADS necessitates it, in his view.
“I know it would have been eye-opening for the community to see those kinds of numbers and what that style of teaching brings about,” Arens said. “These students are not afraid to engage in an active adult discussion at a younger age. Their questions are very valid. They do tend to challenge people because they’re constantly thinking.”
LEADS was established in 2012.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Categories
