Alaska Department of Education and Early Development Commissioner Deena Bishop is overturning a unanimous Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board vote that denied an application for a new charter school.
The commissioner’s decision was written by a designee, Courtney Preziosi, who said there was nothing in the record to legally justify the rejection.
The local school board voted down the application in October. The Academic Policy Committee backing Pearl Creek STEAM Charter School, which wants to open the school in the fall, then appealed to the state education commissioner.
The Fairbanks school board had identified errors in the committee’s proposed budget, which contained itemized expenses that didn’t add up to the sum listed in the application.
Board members raised numerous other concerns, including the school’s plans for food, transportation and admissions, as well as how much it would rely on volunteers to function. The board’s decision also pointed to financial impact, with district administrators saying the school would cost the district about $2.8 million.
The commissioner’s decision counters many of the local board’s findings, saying the board’s rationale didn’t align with what’s laid out in Alaska regulations governing charter school applications. It also says an application is meant as the starting point in a process that results in a final agreement between the local board and school.
In response to the budgetary errors, for example, the commissioner’s decision says the “level of detail and granularity” required by the board wasn’t necessary at the application step. The commissioner’s designee concluded that the board’s concerns, “regardless of how well-founded,” aren’t enough to support denial.
The decision does not grant a final go-ahead. It instead advances the application to the Alaska Board of Education and Early Development’s next meeting in March for their review and possible approval. That’s considered the final agency action, though the state board’s decision could be appealed in state superior court.