District 25 declines charter school’s petition to join district

When Bethany Roper’s daughter, Bella Roper, first started at Gem Prep: Pocatello her reading wasn’t the best. However, after working closely with the school, her reading progressively got better.

“She made great strides to go from below kindergarten level to almost grade level in second grade,” Bethany Roper said. “It’s phenomenal.”

Roper was one of the dozen or so of people who came to support her daughter’s charter school in becoming a part of Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25. Doing so would authorize the school’s charter.

Unfortunately all of the testimony wasn’t enough, since the school board unanimously voted to refer the school to the Idaho Public Charter School Commission.

A lot of the school board’s concerns stemmed from funding issues. Several members cited having problems with charters in their district in the past— which exhausted staff and resources.

The school board’s chair, Janie Gebhardt, said currently resources are spread thin, so bringing in a charter could complicate things even more.

Jason Branson, the CEO for Gem Innovation Schools, admits being disappointed with the result.

“We were really hoping to be able to work with the district at a local level. I think any time you can work with a local district and have local partnerships it’s beneficial to the students in the community,” Branson said. “However, we know we can work with the Idaho Public Charter School Commission as well.”

Bethany Roper said this result won’t deter her feelings for the school.

“It doesn’t mean that our charter’s dead in the water and it doesn’t mean our progression has stopped,” she said.

Gem Prep: Pocatello will now have similar meetings and hearings with the Idaho Public Charter School Commission in Boise.

The Nampa School District unanimously voted to include a Gem Prep school into their district in October.