Charter panel leader shares blunt message

The application for the first proposed charter school in Clark County was denied by the Charter School Commission on Oct. 9.

The proposed Bilingual Charter Academy, a language immersion school, was spearheaded by Yelena Ovdiyenko.

“Even though we got denied, we’re going to do round two,” said Ovdiyenko. “We are keeping in touch with the commission. We’ll work on the application.”

The next application round is February 2015.

A core team of eight volunteers wrote the application, and about 15 to 20 other volunteers helped spread the word about the proposed school, she said. Volunteers include new and experienced teachers, translators, Web designers and engineers.

“Our financial plan was the weak part,” Ovdiyenko said. “We are looking for volunteers with financial and accounting background to help strengthen the charter school’s financial plan.”

Her vision is to operate a bilingual school, similar to language immersion, and first would offer Spanish and Russian. She teaches English language learners at Covington Middle School in Evergreen Public Schools. Ovdiyenko speaks English, Ukrainian and Russian. The plan is to enroll between 150 and 250 pupils in the school’s first year.

“People are not too excited in public education with charter schools,” Ovdiyenko said. “It is sad for me. I hope we will be more progressive. I have seen those schools in other states. They are successful.”

To get involved, contact Ovdiyenko at 360-823-4019 or bilingualcharteracademy@gmail.com or visit www.facebook.com/bilingedu.

— The Columbian

SEATTLE — It takes more than passion to start a charter school.

That’s the message the chairman of the Washington Charter School Commission said he hopes people will get from the latest round of applications to start new schools in the state.

If passion was the only requirement, then the commission would have approved four new schools last week instead of one.

But each of the schools that did not win a charter had a deficit that led the commission to reject its application: financial issues, academic concerns and lack of community connections or support.

During a meeting last week in Yakima, some commissioners were so impressed by the passion of school organizers that they appeared poised to reconsider a proposal that had been rejected by outside evaluators as not being ready.

But both the staff and volunteer leadership of the group expressed a desire to stay focused on quality.

“We’ve got a pretty strong conception of what quality looks like,” said commission Chairman Steve Sundquist after last week’s commission meeting in Yakima. “Our understanding of this is deepening all the time.”

Voters in 2012 passed a charter school law focused on meeting the needs of at-risk children, with very specific requirements for proposals that get a charter.

During the discussion at the meeting about a proposed school for children with special needs who live in the communities surrounding Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Commissioner Larry Wright suggested the panel might want to consider giving The Village Academy a conditional approval.

But another commissioner reminded the group that they shouldn’t be swayed by the passion of the organizers.

“I struggle with consistency. A group of passionate people just left,” Commissioner Kevin Jacka reminded the group, referring to a different proposal for a school in Sunnyside in Central Washington that did not win approval.

Proposals from both The Village Academy and the Sunnyside Charter Academy were rejected for a second time last Thursday. The third proposal rejected last week was for a bilingual school in the Vancouver area.

Commissioner Roberta Wilburn told the Village Academy group to not be discouraged by a second rejection by the statewide commission.