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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWINGSHADOW, 1225 REDWOOD STREET - PDP/FDP - 30-02A - MEDIA - (7)By STACY NICK 11" tr —b'Xian Church, 2700 S..Lemay StacyNick@coloradoan.com Ave„ Frontier will be moving Poudre School District into its new site at 1225 Red might close its "last chance" Wood St. in early 2003, In - school in favor of a possible cluding its own anticipated collaboration with a local growth, the 65student school Christian alternative high would be able to add approx- school. imately 25 PSD junior and On Monday night, PSD's senior high school students Board of Education discussed to its classrooms next fall. closing the Village School, an "We believe this gives us alternative jumor;and senior all the chance to become high school,'and sending its something much larger," said students 'to Frontier School Steve Bolton, co-founder of beginning as early as fall 2003. Wingshadow, the nonprofit The school board is expected , organization for at -risk to vote on the issue during its youths that operates Frontier. regular meeting Dec 9. The school opened in 1994. Currently at First Christ- The school will discon- School district considers new partner for alternative school time its religious curricu- lum in favor of a secular one if the contract is approved, Bolton said. "It's something we are willing to let go of," he said. "In reality, what we have re- ally always been about is turning young lives around. We can provide a better ed- ucation by letting go of this." One snag: The move could out some of the Vil- lage School's 10 staff mem- bers out of work St�.who are past the pro- batio ary period — six years for certified and four for classified — would be guar- anteed jobs at other schools within the district, said Gary Bamford, PSD assistant su- perintendent of secondary school services. Staff under probation would be guaran- teed job interviews. As for the facility, the site at 2540 LaPorte Ave., would be used for an unknown program. Frontier, which currently has six positions, may pro- vide some opportunities. The school would need an- other four teachers to nu n- tain its one-to-10 teacher -stu- dent ratio, Frontier Principal Bruce Hallman said. This fall, enrollment is anticipated at more than 100 students. The recommendation to make this move is not about quality, Bamford said. It's about what most things are about these days — money, or rather a lack of it. Due to state budget cuts, the Village School will lose $375,000 in state grants that make up its $558,000 annual budget, he said. Another $1.2 million would be need- ed from bond revenues for renovations to expand the program, but only $500,000 currently is designated for renovations to the site. PSD could send students to Frontier for approximately $150,000 a year, said Jim Sar- chet, PSD assistant superin- tendent of business services. Because the school essentially would become a public insti- tution, it would receive mon- ey from the state based on the number of students enrolled. Several board members voiced support for the rec- ommendation. "It's a unique situation," board Vice President Jana Ley said. "We'll need to pave our own way, but that's OK We're up to the challenge."