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Thursday, September 02, 2010
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| | Email this article • Print this article | Brownton council approached
about possible charter school
Lori Copler
Staff Writer
The Brownton City Council was approached at its Dec. 2 meeting by some parents interested in starting a charter school in the city.
Michelle Headley and Tom Lemke said a group of parents is interested in starting a charter school in the current school building, which will not be in use after the current school year, since the McLeod West School District will either consolidate with its neighbors or dissolve in 2009 because of a mounting deficit.
The parents specifically asked if the city of Brownton could be a sponsor of a charter school.
City Clerk Cindy Lindeman said she had consulted the state statute regarding charter schools and the League of Minnesota Cities, and said it did not appear a city could be a sponsor.
According to the state statute, a charter school sponsor must be a "charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is a member of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits or the Minnesota Council of Foundations, registered with the attorney general's office, and reports an end-of-year fund balance of at least $2 million; Minnesota private college that grants two- or four-year degrees and is registered with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education under chapter 136A; community college, state university or technical college, governed by the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; or the University of Minnesota may sponsor one or more charter schools," or "... a nonprofit corporation subject to chapter 317A ... and exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, may sponsor one or more charter schools if the charter school has operated for at least three years under a different sponsor and if the nonprofit corporation has existed for at least 25 years."
Lindeman said the city did not appear to qualify as a sponsor under those definitions, and that it would probably take a legislative change to make cities qualify as sponsors. Lindeman said she was also trying to get an opinion from the Minnesota Department of Education as to whether cities can be charter school sponsors.
In addition, Lindeman cautioned the council that the sponsor carries quite a bit of responsibility for a charter school.
"I think everyone needs to take this statute home and read it very carefully," Lindeman said.
More about the issue can be found in the Dec. 10 print edition of the Chronicle.
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