Charter schools told to offer at least some in-person classes in fall

The State Public Charter School Authority’s board on Friday approved the agency’s return to an in-person instruction plan, which was required because the authority is receiving federal American Rescue Plan money.

The authority, which oversees 67 campuses serving more than 50,000 students, expects schools to open this fall with “capacity to offer in-person learning to all students,” according to the plan.

With a new school year less than two months away, planning is well underway, the authority’s Executive Director Rebecca Feiden told the board.

Each school’s governing board will decide whether to offer full-time in-person classes or a hybrid model with a mix of in-person and remote instruction.

Schools also must include in their reopening plan how they’ll use distance learning for students unable to participate in person or in case of an emergency closure.

By the end of the previous school year, the vast majority of the state’s public charter school campuses were providing at least some in-person instruction.

Of 67 campuses, two were fully in person, 51 were operating under hybrid models and 11 were providing limited in-person instruction for some students, according to the authority. That doesn’t include three campuses that regularly operate virtually.

The authority’s board also voted unanimously Friday to recommend schools follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials during the upcoming school year for capacity limits, social distancing, sanitation protocols and public gatherings of up 250 people.

“Schools (also) will obviously have to follow state guidance,” Feiden told the board.

In May, the CDC announced people who have been fully vaccinated no longer need to wear a face mask in most indoor and outdoor settings. But the federal agency recommended schools continue with their current mask requirements and other COVID-19 measures until the school year ended.

The CDC hasn’t yet released guidance for the upcoming school year, but Feiden said she expects it soon.

A state directive implemented this spring allows public schools the option of relaxing mask requirements for children 9 and younger.

Pinecrest Academy enrollment cap

The board also held a lengthy discussion before approving a modified enrollment cap for a handful of Pinecrest Academy of Nevada campuses. Board member Tonia Holmes-Sutton abstained from the discussion, saying the organization she’s affiliated with has a contract to provide services for Pinecrest.

The school system wanted to increase enrollment caps at its Cadence, Sloan Canyon and Inspirada campuses by adding about 900 students in total through fiscal year 2026, according to online meeting materials.

But the board instead approved a smaller increase — 50 more seats for the Cadence campus, 20 more for the Inspirada campus and no additional change for the Sloan Canyon campus, which is already approved for additional seats through 2024.

Nevada public charter schools are required to seek a charter contract amendment if they have a yearly increase or decrease in overall enrollment of more than 10 percent.

But Pinecrest Academy, which has five Las Vegas Valley campuses and nearly 6,500 students in kindergarten through 12th grades, already exceeded its enrollment cap by more than 10 percent at the Candence and Inspirada campuses for the upcoming school year without notifying the charter authority.

Mark Modrcin, the authority’s director of authorizing, called the omission “wholly unacceptable,” but also noted Pinecrest campuses have four and five-star ratings — among the highest in the charter authority’s portfolio.

Feiden said she believes it was an oversight and not intentional. But, she said, the school’s contract requires compliance with the enrollment cap the authority’s board has approved.

Jessica LeNeave, principal at Pinecrest Academy Cadence, thanked the charter authority for working with the school.

“It has really put a fire under our team at large,” she said.

A few authority board members, as well as staff, expressed concerns about about Pinecrest’s demographics not being reflective of local or statewide numbers.

Pinecrest’s Cadence campus, for example, had 28.8 percent of its students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches during the most recent school year, according to online meeting materials. The Inspirada campus rate is 12.5 percent, while Sloan Canyon comes in at 17.5 percent.

That’s significantly lower than the 39.4 percent rate for charter authority schools as a whole, 72.5 percent for Nevada and 85.6 percent for the Clark County School District.

LeNeave assured the authority that the school system is already looking at weighted enrollment lottery possibilities and to ensure all five campuses are boosting marketing efforts to higher-need families.

Other actions

At its Friday meeting, the charter authority board also:

— Approved a request from Sage Collegiate Public Charter School to defer the school’s opening to the 2022-23 school year.

— Approved a request from Las Vegas Collegiate Charter School to allow the school to operate up to four miles away from its approved 89106 zip code and to add second grade in its first year of operation.

The school is deferring opening to the 2022-23 school year due to challenges with securing a facility. It’s the second time the opening date has been pushed back.

— Approved a request from Explore Academy Las Vegas to stay in a North Rancho Drive building, which is also occupied by TEACH Las Vegas, for fall semester while construction is underway on the school’s permanent facility.

—Approved a request from Amplus Academy to begin a high school dual credit program in partnership with Reno-based Truckee Meadows Community College, offer full-day kindergarten classes and reconfigure campus grade levels (kindergarten through fifth grade at the Rainbow campus instead of K-3).

— Selected Melissa Mackedon to continue as board chair and Sheila Moulton to fill the board vice chair position.