Cove School Board OKs charter status

COVE — The Grande Ronde Valley now has a second charter school system.

The Cove School Board voted to approve the district’s charter status in a unanimous vote on Tuesday.

Cove becomes the second charter system in the Grande Ronde Valley. Imbler became a charter district last year.

Charter systems are publicly funded school districts that have been freed of some state and federal regulations that apply to all schools. Charter systems are also eligible for substantial grants.

The North Powder School District may also become a charter district before the start of the 2009-10 school year.

Cove will be eligible for up to $500,000 in federal grants as a charter district over the next three years, said Superintendent Jeff Clark. The money cannot be used for staffing or facilities but could be used for curriculum, supplies, technology and professional development.

Charter status will not impact the money the Cove School District receives from the state.

Cove will also benefit from charter status because it makes it easier for transfer students to continue attending a school district. The reason is students do not need permission from the district they live in to transfer into a charter system. Students in a charter system also do not need permission from their district to transfer out of it.

About 8 percent of Cove’s students are transfers.

Charter systems can set limits on how many students they can have at each grade level. The Cove School Board has set the following grade-level limits:

• 27 students for each high school grade level.

• 25 students per level for grades 5-8.

• 20 students per level in grades 1-4.

• 18 students in kindergarten.

It is important for a charter system to set grade-level limits because students can transfer  in so easily, Clark said.

He stressed that the limits apply only for students not living in the school district. Resident students will always be eligible to enroll. Non-resident students can be turned away though if grade level cap is met.

The limits were set by the board to prevent the district from growing too much. The district has about 245 students.

“We don’t want to lose the small school feel,’’ Clark said. "We want to keep the personal interaction that takes place in a small school.’’

The move to charter district status will become official when the Oregon Department of Education gives its final OK.