Parents group pushes for charter school that wouldn’t be ‘elitist or expensive’

A group of parents seeking a public school alternative wants to create a Waldorf-style charter school within the Medford district.

The Jacksonville-based group, called the Madrone Trail Initiative, envisions opening a program with kindergarten, first and second grades next fall and adding a grade level each year until the program stretches to eighth grade, said parent volunteer Daniele Anderson.

The group is seeking grants to help fund its start-up efforts and hopes to submit a proposal to Medford school officials in January, she said.

It would be the first charter proposal the Medford School District has heard, said Superintendent Phil Long.

The board has reviewed its policy and state law regarding charter schools with an attorney from the Oregon School Boards Association and will evaluate any proposal carefully, he said.

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"Our goal is to partner with parents," Long said, noting that charter schools would have to be accessible to all district students and would have to show student progress just as other schools do.

"The challenge for the board is, ‘Do we want to sponsor this?’ " he said. "Is this a way to bypass public schools or a way to broaden our offerings? Does it help us or hurt us?"

The state authorized the creation of charter schools, which are excluded from many statutes and rules guiding conventional public schools, in 1999. Sixty-six operate in Oregon now under contracts with sponsoring districts. The Armadillo Technical Institute in Phoenix is the only charter school currently operating in Jackson County.

Gesine Abraham, a longtime local Waldorf educator, said Madrone Trail supporters are committed to forming a public charter school that would be open to all, even though such a plan has more requirements than opening a private school.

Waldorf education’s founding father Rudolf Steiner opened his first school, based on his philosophy of child development and the need to integrate intellectual, physical and emotional growth, for the children of workers at a German cigarette factory in 1919 and demanded that students be allowed to attend for free.

"Waldorf education isn’t meant to be expensive or elitist," Abraham said. "Tuition would limit entry."

She said the proposed charter school also wants to avoid competing with private programs already serving the area.

A scattering of preschools and private classes, as well as a growing private program in Ashland formed from the remnants of a Waldorf school that closed in 2000, show a local demand for Waldorf- style education, said Abraham, who teaches at Star of the Morning preschool in Jacksonville.

The Waldorf School of the Rogue Valley served students from 1979 until 2000 when financial difficulties forced its closure. A handful of parents and teachers linked to that school have continued private classes and formed the Siskiyou School, which wants to lease space at Ashland’s former Lincoln Elementary School.

The Madrone Trail group, which is incorporated as a nonprofit, is applying for a federal grant administered by the Oregon Department of Education to help start charter schools, Anderson said. The grant would provide $25,000 for planning, then an additional $25,000 for set-up costs if the district accepts the proposed charter.

Upon opening, the school could get additional funds for materials, furnishings and building improvements during its first two years of operation. The grant funds can’t pay for operational costs such as lease payments or salaries, Anderson said.

However, because a charter school is part of the public school system, it receives a share — generally 80 percent — of state funds based on enrollment, while the sponsoring district keeps the remainder to cover administrative costs. Anderson expects to have about 25 students at each of the three grade levels upon opening.

Finding a building to house the school as it grows is a top challenge, she said. The group is interested in the Naval Reserve building on Ross Lane that the district owns and leases to the military. It appeared on a list of possible base closures, but its future remains uncertain.

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.