OKC’s school growth comes from its charters
Charter schools are a growing part of the Oklahoma City Public School District and they also account for the district’s recent growth in student enrollment.
After decades of massive decline, enrollment in Oklahoma City schools has steadily increased in recent years. However, that growth is coming from charter schools, while total enrollment at traditional public schools has dropped for three years in a row.
District officials and school board members have talked a lot this past year about the need to be more organized and intentional when it comes to managing its charter schools, especially as it’s likely more applications will come before the board in the next few years.
One school administrator described the charter school system in Oklahoma City, which accounts for nearly 14 percent of the district’s enrollment, as the “wild west” before this year, when a new point person to oversee the district’s charter schools was hired.
“In yesteryear, we knew that we were the authorizer for charter schools but did not have the capacity to do that at a quality level,” said William Stubbs, an instructional leadership director who oversees the district’s 13 charter schools. “I come in and be both support and oversight.”
The district serves as the authorizer or sponsor to its charter schools, meaning it approves or denies charter applications, monitors performance and legal compliance, develops policies and oversees application renewals.
District leaders have spent the last several months creating standards for charter applications, collecting more data on the charter schools and have
created a charter school closure plan for the first time, which is being put in action as both Harper Academy and Lighthouse charter schools are expected to close later this year.
A district representative is now present at most charter school board meetings, something that didn’t always happen in the past. Stubbs said he has also been present at charter school lotteries when new students are selected for open seats.
“Oftentimes at the district level we are confronted with misconceptions that charter schools are cherry picking (students), that they are highly selective and are kicking kids out,” Stubbs said. “But I have not seen that.”
The charge for stronger oversight and partnership with charter schools has largely come under the young administration of Superintendent Aurora Lora, but it’s the school board that approves or denies charter applications.
“We can’t get too far out in front of our board on the philosophical direction we want to go towards when it comes to charter school,” said Rebecca Kaye, Lora’s chief of staff. “I think our main focus as an administration is becoming the best charter school authorizer we can be.”
Elections earlier this month brought significant change to the school board, including the election of new board chair Paula Lewis, who has displayed a more cautious tone toward charter schools.
“My stance on charter schools is that we need to have a stance as a district, and right now we don’t have that,” Lewis said during her campaign.
Charter school funding
Charter schools collect state funding per student — they are not eligible for local property tax funding — that flows through the authorizing district. Oklahoma City Public Schools charges all of its charters a 3 percent administrative fee — the state allows as much as 5 percent — and provides a variety of services to the schools.
Some Oklahoma City charter schools rent a building from the district, some take part in the district’s school nutrition program and there is accounting and central office support provided to the schools on a varying degree.
“There is not a standard profile among all of our (charter) schools,” said Jean Bostwick, the district’s chief financial officer.
Getting every charter school on the same standard with building rents, central office support and other services would be difficult and somewhat contrary to the goal of charter schools, which is to give some schools increased autonomy that allows for unique setups.
Based on the state’s per- pupil funding level for students, the current charter schools in Oklahoma City get close to $29 million annually and the district’s cut is close to $900,000.
Some district officials worry charter school growth could hurt general funding, especially if there isn’t a better handle on what the true cost to the district is for overseeing charters.
“If there are 25 kids that used to be at Green Pasture Elementary and those kids are now at KIPP (charter school), we probably don’t save much money on the cost of transportation that we have to provide at Green Pastures,” Kaye said. “But we have 25 fewer kids that we are getting revenue for and that money is going to count.”
Bostwick said the district is analyzing its services to charter schools to determine if the 3 percent fee needs to be raised. “When it comes to indirect costs, we want to change how we have been tracking it,” Bostwick said. “We are talking to every department and asking, ‘what are your interactions with charter schools? What’s the cost?’ ”
Replicating success
When the charter school movement began in Minnesota in 1991, it was considered a way to establish school laboratories that could try new things and offer solutions for other public schools.
Stubbs said the district has a chance to do a better job at learning from successful charter schools, but that starts with having a better relationship.
“I see my role as really being able to have insight on best practices on both sides of the spectrum and being able to share that,” Stubbs said.
Charter schools in Oklahoma City vary when it comes to academic success. KIPP Reach Academy in east Oklahoma City has received high grades from the state and other organizations for student gains.
Other schools, such as Harper, which is closing its doors at the end of this school year, have consistently ranked as one of the worst performing schools in the state.
But while some charter schools close, others are likely to open or expand. Three charter schools came before the district last year with a plan to expand and those who watch charter school movement in the city believe other charter organizations could be coming before the board in the coming years.
If recent trends continue, enrollment at charter schools will continue to account for a larger piece of the district’s total student population.
“It is a national trend in urban systems that the growth is really happening in charters,” Kaye said. “We are trying to keep up with that.”