Windsor school board rejects proposed charter school's cash offer for district land

A proposed charter school will not be allowed to purchase 10 acres of land in Windsor's RainDance development following community members' complaints about the land not being used for a traditional public school.

American Legacy Academy, also known as ALA, hopes to open in Windsor in 2023 as a Weld RE-4-authorized charter school. But first it needs a location.

The land the school was seeking is currently earmarked for a traditional public school that could serve about 600 students and open as soon as 2024. The possibility of a charter school occupying the land instead led to weeks of community debate and board conversations.

On April 18, the Weld RE-4 Board of Education voted not to give the land to the charter school at a prorated cost based on enrollment, saying more community input was needed. The following day, the charter’s board of directors came back with a cash offer to buy the land for $2.1 million.

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Despite the cash offer, the board voted 4-1 against selling the land to ALA during a special meeting Wednesday, with board member Aaron Smith being the only vote in favor of selling it. Other board members said they simply had to listen to their constituents, and it was clear that the RainDance community did not want a charter school on the land.

Weld RE-4 doesn't yet own the RainDance property, but the space has been dedicated to the district to become an elementary school for nearly a decade. District spokesperson Katie Messerli said that, pending board approval, the title should be in the district's name by the end of May.

To get a better idea of what the community wanted, the district sent a survey to all families in the district and shared information about the survey directly in the RainDance community. It also held a feedback session on Monday that was open to all.

According to a copy of the survey results shared with the Coloradoan, about 70% of respondents wanted a traditional public school on the land while just less than 20% wanted the charter school.

Board member Lance Nichols said the response against letting a charter school have the site was "overwhelming" and he thinks it's important to listen to that community.

“I'm for school choice and for parent choice ... I think that's great, but it's got to work for the community as a whole," Nichols said.

Though a charter school on the site would still technically be a district public school, community members expressed concerns that it would use a lottery system for enrollment, likely wouldn’t have all the extracurricular facilities a traditional public school funded by the district would have and wouldn’t serve as many students immediately.

In an attempt to ease some of the concerns, ALA’s board said they could give priority to RainDance students. That wasn’t enough to sway the board.

“We can't give up sites that we know we can have students there and we can fill a building with 600 in the first year,” said Russ Smart, the board's president.

Smart also said he was frustrated by the way the board of the proposed charter went about conversations with the district’s board.

“I think there was a lot of lack of transparency in your deals,” Smart said, directing his comments at ALA. “Everything seemed to be: We would say no and push back, and then all of a sudden it got magically better.”

“In a sense, I feel like there were demands put on us that was never discussed; you just demanded what you wanted, and that frustrates me,” he said, adding that he still believes there’s a solution but wants to work together more moving forward.

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Windsor developer Martin Lind suggested to the charter that it pursue the district’s LaBue site in the southwest portion of RE-4, something Smart said he also thought could be a solution. However, a representative from ALA told the board they were not interested in that option during public comment on Wednesday night.

Julie Babcock, chair of the ALA board, confirmed to the Coloradoan that they’re not interested in that site right now, saying there are too many issues with it, as opposed to RainDance, which is shovel-ready. She said the school will likely look at private land moving forward rather than attempting to work with the district on district land.

Babcock said she felt the board should have surveyed all citizens in the district rather than just the residents of RainDance and Weld RE-4 on how the land should be used. But while she’s disappointed with the outcome, Babcock said her team remains undeterred.

“This is our mission: Our goal is to get school choice using a classical, core knowledge education,” she said Thursday morning. The goal is still to open the charter school in 2023, likely in an existing building while they build out their own, but Babcock said that gets a little less realistic as more weeks go by.

Charter schools can be authorized either through the state or through a local school district. ALA has opted to go the district route.

ALA’s formal application was submitted to Weld RE-4 on April 18 and is in an independent review period before going to the board. The decision to not sell them the land is completely separate from the decision on whether the charter will be eligible to join the district.

Editor's note: District and charter officials previously told the Coloradoan the board had 75 days from April 18 to approve ALA's charter application. However, because of updated policy, the 75-day period will not begin until the application is reviewed by an independent party.

Related: Wondering about Colorado's charter schools? Here are 4 things to know.

Molly Bohannon covers education for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @molboha or contact her at mbohannon@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Windsor's Weld RE-4 votes to not sell RainDance site to charter school