Financial shortfall causing changes to school

A serious financial shortfall is causing West Concord Public Charter School to look at all areas of the program.
At two meetings last week the board members agreed that to remain viable for the next school year the school must revert to a kindergarten through fifth grade format. Board members also decided not to renew the contract of Director Nicole Musolf, opting instead to go with a part-time director who is also a teacher.
The school opened three years ago with kindergarten through grade five and added a grade each year until this year when there are students in grades kindergarten through seven. Original plans were for the school to reach its final kindergarten through eighth grade configuration in the 2016-2017 school year.
Financial concerns increased in April when there was a discussion at the monthly board meeting about a drop in students to 39 from the 46 students enrolled at the beginning of the year.
During the school year students have left for different reasons including moving out of the area. Board members said last week that the parents of 29 current students who could be expected to return were contacted and the parents of 22 of those children said they would return. The remaining parents did not respond to the inquiry.
After the initial concerns about enrollment and finances were discussed the board set about reducing the budget for next year to a point where they believed they had reduced the shortfall to about $10,000. But late last month the school discovered that a miscalculation that affected the amount of student aid the school will receive next year had increased the deficit to about $80,000.
At two special meetings last week the board worked on cutting the budget even further by measures that included reducing the number of classes and going with a shared director/teaching position.
Board members agreed that although the budget cuts are necessary the only way to really keep the school operating is to increase the number of students.
The board is scheduled to meet this Friday evening to discuss ways to recruit students and make further budget cuts as needed. Time is short, Board Chair Corky Buckingham said, as the schools “authorizer,” Friends of Education, is also concerned about the financial situation.
Although the situation is serious, board members were adamant that the school will remain open.
As the budget has already been cut and re-cut, board members, former board members and parents at last week’s meetings agreed the most important thing is to increase enrollment.
“The revenue probably isn’t going to change a lot,” said former board chair and member Jeffery McCool.
“Can this be turned around,” he asked. “Students are the only way we can turn it around.”
One of the best things the board could do, said West Concord resident Greg Klevos, is to have an “honest discussion of what have been our failures” and to move on from there.
Board members agreed that part of the problem has been bullying of younger students by the older ones and that returning to a kindergarten through fifth grade program would help.
“We need to build bridges with the community,” said former board member Karen Peterson. “We need to get out and recruit. We need to develop a plan and go out and do it.”
“We have to address our failures up front and show how we are correcting them,” Board Member Donna Klapperich said.
Buckingham said that he and Klapperich would be speaking with the Friends of Education on Thursday and that board members should get ideas on how to move forward to him before that meeting. The board has scheduled a meeting for Friday evening to make further decisions on how to proceed.