Charter school families find they have little say over company
LEILA NAVIDI
Lynette and Rosco Cherry’s 7-year-old triplets, from left, Kenedy, Madisen and Adonis, are second-graders at Imagine in the Valle charter school.
Friday, April 2, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.
Sun archives
- Drama is real for Imagine charter (9-17-2009)
- Families galvanized by charter school principal’s suspension(9-11-2009)
- 100 Academy supporter says parents' view of school matters (11-17-2008)
- A principal fired, a campus on thin ice (11-13-2008)
- Time is on charters' side (7-23-2008)
- Charter school on thin ice (6-10-2008)
- Disputed charter school can’t be barred (5-1-2008)
- Facing charter timeout, school rushing to open in a YMCA (3-14-2008)
- Airing of charter tensions (2-20-2008)
- School Board rejects bid for charter sponsorship (4-15-2005)
Beyond the Sun
On paper, charter schools are supposed to give parents more of a voice in their children’s education.
But families at Imagine in the Valle, one of two Clark County campuses operated by a private Virginia company, say they are finding it difficult to make themselves heard.
What makes charter schools attractive to some parents is that although they are funded by the state and get the same per-pupil funding as traditional public campuses, they enjoy greater leeway in areas such as instructional methods and staffing.
And supposedly, key decisions are made by school supporters — including parents and teachers — who sit on the school’s governing board.
Like most states, Nevada allows charter school organizers to hire for-profit management companies to help with day-to-day operations, provided the governing board remains in control.
But in the case of one company — Imagine Schools Inc. — parents say the expectation of local control is not being met.
Imagine runs two Clark County campuses — Imagine in the Valle in