Board committee approves three charter contract renewals: Next Door, Honey Creek and Highland

At the Feb. 19 meeting of the Committee on Student Achievement in School Innovation, administrators recommended, and the committee approved, five-year charter contract renewals for three schools: Next Door Charter School (Next Door Foundation, Inc.), Honey Creek Continuous Progress Charter School (instrumentality contract) and Highland Community School (non-instrumentality). Each recommendation had previously cleared earlier steps in the renewal process; the committeevote completed the final step.

For Next Door Charter School, Bridget Schock (Director of Contracted School Services) explained the contract was developed in collaboration with the Office of Board Governance, the city attorney and representatives of Next Door Foundation. The contract covers a kindergarten-through-four program for 160 Kthrough 4 students and aligns academic performance measures to Kthrough 4 growth. Heather Merriam, president of Next Door Foundation, addressed the committee to support renewal and described Next Doorservice to children ages 0— and partnership history with MPS.

Director Gokul Gandhi moved approval of the non-instrumentality charter contract for Next Door; the secretary called the roll. The committee recorded four ayes: Director Ferguson, Director Gokul Gandhi, Director Leonard and Chair Simpson (4-0). The motion passed.

The committee next approved a five-year instrumentality contract renewal for Honey Creek Continuous Progress Charter School. Bridget Schock summarized the renewal; Honey Creek will serve 390 students in grades K3 through 5 under the renewed contract. Director Leonard moved approval; the roll call recorded four ayes and the motion passed.

The third renewal approved was a five-year non-instrumentality contract for Highland Community School, serving 440 students in grades K3 through 8 under the proposed contract. Director Leonard moved approval; the roll call recorded four ayes and the motion passed.

All three items were presented as final steps in contract development; administration stated the attachments (redline contracts, DPI benchmarks and appendices) were available in the meeting packet.

Speakers who appeared on these agenda items included Bridget Schock (Director of Contracted School Services), Heather Merriam (President, Next Door Foundation), and board members who moved and voted on the motions.