Problems For D-49 Charter School
By Tak Landrockt.landrock@krdo.com
COLORADO SPRINGS – Parents and staff packed the Rocky Mountain Classical Academy Wednesday night to either support or applaud thepossiblefiring of Linda Stahnke, the charter school’s executive director.
In the end, she was put on voluntary leave and now two board members will be running the school. It is unclear whether or not she will return back to her position in the D-49 charter school.
Stahnke has come under fireafter a recent reportby the Charter School Support Institute (CSSI) after the Colorado Department of Education received several complaints.
The review was done at the end of January for three days. It found several areas where the school needs to improve. Some of those include mistrust between administrators and staff, an administration staff that is to heavy, roles of employees not being defined and micromanagement of staff by the executive director.
One area that is a great concern in the report is the “financial errors” the investigation found in the school’s budget. It says, “In its first three years, RMCA has made significant financial errors, including not keeping its legally required TABOR Reserve.”
Under state law, schools in Colorado are supposed to keep at least three percent of their annual budget in a reserve fund.
The investigation also found RMCA was not paying bills on time, operating at a loss month-by-month, and also neglecting to make required contributions to PERA,the Public Employee Retirement Association for Colorado. It’s the state’s version of social security.
Stahnke wrote on the RMCA website, “While the evaluation by an outside group is helpful for helping the Board and Executive Director map out the future, a three-day visit cannot fully appreciate the work nor understand the details of three years of work by the RMCA founders and team.”
She add that a three-day trip by CSSI can’t “fully appreciate” the work or understand the details of what the leaders of the charter school have done over the last three years. She also felt the independent investigation focused on complaints rather than the mission of the school.
“We do have things to work on, but already, in just three years, we have met the needs of families in our school district who were attending over-crowded schools. We have changed the view of parent involvement in schools and choices. Even the district is beginning to acknowledge parental choice.” She writes, “Sure, we have things to improve. But on balance, this is a phenomenal school that is raising the bar throughout District 49. I believe the CSSI team missed some significant things at RMCA.”
To see the CSSI report click here.
To see the response from the Executive Director click here.
