IF School Board Defers Patriotism-Themed Charter To State

The Idaho Falls School District 91 School Board is deferring the petition for a patriotism-themed charter school to the State Public Charter School Commission.

The 4-1 decision came after a review committee made the same recommendation.

Charter schools can either be authorized and managed by the district it’s in, or by the state commission. In this case, review committee members said they feel it would be too much responsibility and liability for the district.

The American Heritage Charter School was proposed in early April as the second of its kind. The main petitioner opened a similar school in Gooding a few years ago, where some say it’s divided the community.

Director of Elementary Education and review committee member Karla LaOrange said the proposed “core-knowledge” curriculum was sound and would be a good alternative for students in the district.

However, LaOrange also said there’s a lot of risk involved that would mean committing time and resources.

Board members agreed during discussion that there’s more burden than advantages.

They discussed charter schools and the process extensively at Tuesday’s meeting, tossing around ideas about developing policy and procedures for dealing with these petitions in the future.

It’s not necessarily the end of the road for the American Heritage Charter. If the state commission authorizes it, the school could still come to Idaho Falls, but would not be managed by the District 91.