KIPP Charter School In Columbus: To Be Housed In a CCS Building?
At the December 18th, 2007 Columbus Board of Education meeting, an updated version of the district’s real estate plan was presented to all seven members by Carole Oshavsky. The senior executive in charge of capital improvements, Oshavsky’s report updated the board on progress in the renovation and construction of new and existing schools. In addition, updates were made regarding land acquisition for new school sites as well as plans for vacant buildings within the district. The potential lease of two district buildings to charter schools outside of the district was presented to the Board, an event completely ignored by every local media outlet.
The idea of CCS leasing parts or entire buildings to third parties is not a new one; five whole buildings within the district are also being leased to third parties. Over 10 additional examples of partial leases of buildings or district land exist, including a parking lot at Africentric K12 and some land from West High School leased to Nextel for a cell tower.
Currently the district leases Walden Elementary School to the Marburn Academy, a private school that specializes in serving students with learning disabilities. The Linmoor Annex is also leased to AAA Academy, a charter school sponsored by the Columbus City School District that helps accelerate the graduation rate of over-aged high school students. The potential lease of district buildings to charter schools from outside of CCS would be the first time such a business deal occurred in the history of the district.
The Graham/ Charles School has expressed interest in leasing Brentnell Elementary school from the district. Open since 2000, the Graham School enrolls 220 students and is interested in leasing Brentnell Elementary School. Located just west of Port Columbus, Brentnell was built in 1970, and the 26,000 square foot building sits on a site of just under 16 acres. It was closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year due to declining enrollment, and is currently valued at $1.7 million.
The Knowledge Is Power Program (known by its initials as KIPP) has expressed interest in leasing Linden Park Elementary School. Linden Park was built in 1975; the 31,ooo square foot building sits on just over an acre of land and the property was last valued at $1.4 million. Linden Park Elementary was closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year. The Linden area has over 1,000 CCS students currently enrolled in charter schools, making it the most heavily-recruited area in Columbus.
KIPP was founded in Texas in 1994 by two former Teach For America members, and has grown to include 57 locations in 17 states and currently enrolls 57,000 students. One of the central tenets of KIPP’s operation is increased time spent in school; students attend classes from 7:30 AM until 5 PM weekdays, four hours every other Saturday and for three weeks during the summer. KIPP boasts that 80% of its students nationally are eligible for free and reduced price lunch, and a further 90% are African American or Hispanic.
Efforts have been underway in Ohio since 2005 to bring KIPP to the Buckeye State, and after a seminar in the early months of the same year, a coterie of local business and industry leaders became interested in the possibilities the impact it could have in Columbus. After much negotiation, KIPP decided to open up to 5 locations in Columbus, with the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation as its sponsor. The Columbus Foundation awarded a three year $120,000 challenge grant to the Columbus Partnership, a group of 29 of the most powerful and influential private citizens in Ohio. The Columbus Partnership pledged an additional $480,000 over three years to help KIPP with startup costs.
There are no entrance exams to KIPP, and students who wish to attend KIPP participate in a lottery process to determine who attends. Critics charge that the very existence of a lottery process stratifies KIPP’s place on the education horizon, making it easier for “connected” parents to get their students into KIPP. Teachers charge KIPP with deliberately “creaming” students from their classes. As one teacher-blogger put it:
“KIPP, a local high-achieving charter school, is stealing away my favorite fourth-graders. See, I teach fifth grade and our local KIPP starts in fifth-grade. So I got to watch these little bright minds rise, first in my GATE class last year, then in my ELD class this year. I’ve looked forward for two years to the day they’ll be mine, only to have them snatched away to become quasi-robotic automatons of academic achievement.”
Teachers, parents and students must sign a learning pledge, the student version of which includes the quote “Failure to adhere to these commitments can cause me to lose various KIPP privileges and can lead to returning to my home school.”
Students in KIPP who fail to adhere to their commitments lose privileges by being placed on “the bench”. As a 2003 article in the San Francisco Chronicle described it, “(students) are placed on the bench, must wear signs around their neck that say “BENCH,” eat at a quiet table and write letters of apology to each student before explaining to the class how they will change their behavior.” This blog was less kind in its description of the schools’ discipline procedures.
While KIPP is well-known for (and boasts) large increases in test scores in both reading and mathematics, the system has its critics. Little attention is paid to the schools’ high attrition rate; while KIPP acknowledges up to a 25% attrition rate at some of its schools, some of its schools in California (specifically San Francisco) have shown up to a 50% attrition rate, according to this blogger.
After the presentation of the Real Estate Plan by Oshavsky, the Board had a number of questions for Superintendent Harris. Board Member W. Carlton Weddington questioned Dr. Harris as to why the district would lease a building rather than just sell it.
“This is an option to maintain some level of control until we know what the board’s plan is regarding the real estate plan,” responded Harris. “There is a provision in the lease that allows us to reclaim the building….(during the lease) the district won’ t have to pay for upkeep, maintenance or utility costs and this becomes a stream of income for us.”
Oshavsky indicated that market prices will allow the district to earn roughly $1.50 to $2.00 per square foot of building floor space in a leasing situation. It wasn’t immediately clear if this figure was on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis, but the district would earn approximately $50,000 from Brentnell and $60,000 from Linden Park.
Recent changes in state law allow school districts to claim the test scores of a charter school if they are housed in a district building, even if they are not sponsored by the district itself. When asked by Weddington if CCS planned to claim the test scores of either Graham or KIPP, Harris responded in the negative.
“At this point, that’s not our plan,” said Harris. “All of this would have to be negotiated; we’re not talking about an exchange of services.”
Concerned about the effect that the introduction of another charter school might have on the Linden Community’s fledgling plan to reorganize and revitalize its neighborhood schools, Board Member Shawna Gibbs asked if another building could be made available to KIPP outside of the Linden area instead of Linden Park.
“KIPP starts a grade at a time,” said Harris. “I don’t see this as interfering with what’s going on in the Linden community. We’ve got thousands of students in the Linden area, and we’ve got the parents’ interest. I don’t think they (KIPP) will have the impact people will think it will have.”
“Unless they’re successful,” added Gibbs. “What impact will it have if it’s successful?”
“If KIPP is successful with our kids, that’s a win.” responded Harris.
“Having KIPP in the Linden area is worth watching,” interjected Board President Terry Boyd. “A lease with them allows a relationship and a sense of control. KIPP benefits the community and the district. We aren’t going to have a defeatist attitude about this.”
Oshavsky added that KIPP officials had already been taken around on tours of the Linden Park site. The Board will decide in late January or early February to enter into the contract for the building with KIPP; state law requires all districts to create and approve a plan for the use of vacant school buildings. Linden Park and three other schools must be grandfathered in by July 31st, 2008.