At an HMS site council meeting Tuesday, the council drafted a proposal requesting the board not approve the charter school’s request.
Fireweed already has board approval to add kindergarten through second-grade next fall and increase the space being used at WHES, according to Glen Szymoniak, assistant superintendent for the district. The charter school’s request awaiting board approval is to expand from 62 students to 154 by 2008, to add grades 9-12, and to expand into HMS, Szymoniak said.
Specifically, Fireweed Academy is seeking exclusive use of two rooms at the middle school; one period of gym use; access to the computer lab, band, choir and extracurricular activities; and part-time access to empty rooms on an occasional basis, said HMS Principal Dan Beck.
The council’s opposition to Fireweed’s proposal came after gathering input from HMS staff, faculty and parents. All of the comments reported at the Tuesday meeting were critical of Fireweed’s request. Many of those questioned by council member and HMS teacher Toni Parlow specifically asked that their names not be used because they were “in fear of having their name maligned in the community,” Parlow said.
Among the concerns voiced by parents, staff and council members at Tuesday’s meeting were finding space to accommodate Fireweed students, additional burdens on staff and facilities, issues of safety and combining the two student populations for after-school activities.
“We have questions about what it would look like to have Fireweed Academy here,” said Sara Reinert, parent of a WHES student, who said she represented a group of 20 parents whose youngsters will enter the middle school. “If Fireweed Academy participates in music and band, does that mean a kid coming from sixth grade coming in (to HMS) can’t? We see the benefit to Fireweed Academy, but we fail to see the benefits of Fireweed Academy to Homer Middle School.”
The chief concern focused on the impact of housing seventh- through 12th-grades under one roof.
“There would be students that are high school age in our building and there’s a concern about having much older students and what kind of influence they have — good or bad —on our impressionable middle school students,” Beck said.
During the council’s discussion, Beck added, “As the administrator, my job is to find if this will benefit Homer Middle School. I don’t see any benefit.”
“The question I ask is if any of these challenges are insurmountable,” said council facilitator and parent Tom Bursch. “Personally I don’t believe any of these are insurmountable.”
In drafting its response, the site council referred to Fireweed’s proposal as “counter-productive,” indicated the council’s inability to identify “significant benefits” of the proposal and questioned any “real and substantial detrimental effects” that could be realized if the charter school’s request finds favor with the KPBSD school board.
Homer Middle School has until Nov. 14 to present its proposal to the board, and a board decision is scheduled for Nov. 20, Szymoniak said.
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.
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