Polk County News
2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 10, 2018
Instructional time a challenge for charter school
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — An Oregon
School Boards’ Association
review of Dallas Communi-
ty School, a charter school
in Dallas, found it is out of
compliance with state in-
structional hours require-
ments.
The finding isn’t surprising
given that DCS’ model has
parents — not licensed
teachers — providing most
of the instruction to stu-
dents, said Kristen Miles,
board development spe-
cialist with OSBA who also
conducts evaluations on
charter schools. The school,
which is in its third year, is
designed to provide re-
sources and guidance to
families who home-school
their children.
As a public charter
school, though, the school
and its sponsor Dallas
School District are ac-
countable to state require-
ments.
Miles bases evaluations
on the National Associa-
tion of Charter School Au-
thorizers’ “Core Perform-
ance Framework and Guid-
ance.” The
re v i e w,
called an
“a n n u a l
perform-
a n c e
framework
and re-
port,” ana-
Miles
lyzes a
charter school’s academic
per for mance, financial
standing and organization-
al management.
Miles offered commen-
dations on strong perform-
ance areas and recommen-
dations for improvement in
others.
“My goal is to provide a
useful tool for the board,
the district and the charter
school to work from,” she
said Monday at the Dallas
School Board meeting.
Miles said she noted the
instructional hours com-
pliance issue because it is
Dallas School District’s ob-
ligation as the authorizer of
the charter to determine if
its charter schools are fol-
lowing the law.
“The main question is,
are they providing a com-
prehensive instructional
program, and are they pro-
SMART needs more Dallas readers
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — The Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) program
needs more volunteer readers at Lyle and Oakdale Heights Ele-
mentary Schools in Dallas.
Volunteers read one-on-one with children in kindergarten
through third grade for at least one hour per week. Training is pro-
vided for volunteers.
The program runs during school hours from October to May.
Volunteers must v one hour per week, but can spend more time
reading with children.
Apply at www.getsmartoregon.org or call 503-391-8423.
viding the
required
instruc-
t i o n a l
t i m e ,
which is
defined in
OARs as
provided
Johnstone
by a li-
censed teacher,” Miles said.
She said DCS is using a
model of accounting for at-
tendance and instructional
time that online schools
use, but her determination
is that the school is falling
short of the requirement as
it tries to blend home-
school and traditional
school elements.
“The whole purpose of
the school is to combine
those things, to allow stu-
dents to have a home
school environment but
also function as a charter
school,” Miles said. “I think
my note about that is to
point out that there may be
a tension in here in trying
to do both. That is hard to
do in a charter school
model.”
DCS isn’t alone in this
predicament. Dallas Super-
intendent Michelle John-
stone said
other simi-
lar charter
schools in
the state
are dealing
with this
concern.
“Some
Wilkins
districts
have said that’s not OK, like
Bend, other districts have
allowed it, like Medford,”
Johnstone said.
DCS Director Bill Conlon
said the school is research-
ing and working with the
Oregon Department of Ed-
ucation to find a solution.
“We want to be in com-
pliance,” he said. “We don’t
want an issue for Dallas
School District that they
have something that is
going to come back at
them, so we are going to
work hard to make it cor-
rect and figure out what it
is we need to do.”
Miles commended the
school on having 84 per-
cent of its students partici-
pate in state assessments,
an achievement, she noted,
for a school serving a pop-
ulation not accustomed to
such testing.
However, scores on those
tests were lower than state
and Dallas district averages.
“I’m recommending that
the specific plan of im-
provement be written,” she
said.
Miles also presented
Luckiamute Valley Charter
School’s evaluation on
Monday night.
In a letter accompanying
the evaluation, LVCS Execu-
tive Director Christy Wilkins
said the school is regroup-
ing after difficult years be-
fore and after the former di-
rector retired due to illness.
She said he had been direc-
tor for 13 years, and his
mid-year departure last
school year was challenging.
State assessment scores
also suffered during that
time.
“It was disappointing to
the entire LVCS community
that results on the state as-
sessment were so poor, be-
cause academic achieve-
ment has always been a
point of pride for students,
staff and parents,” Wilkens
wrote in the letter. “I believe
those results do not accu-
rately reflect the skills of our
students or our teachers.”
Wilkins in the evaluation
and on Monday detailed
programs and plans to im-
prove performance, includ-
ing better alignment be-
tween the grades, better in-
terventions and profes-
sional development oppor-
tunities.
“We are implementing a
lot of changes. I think good
changes,” Wilkins said. “We
are very focused on in-
struction and improving
student achievement.”
Miles said parents she
interviewed for the evalua-
tion were satisfied with
class sizes and relation-
ships with teachers and
staff.
“They also hired a new
ED (executive director)
who is strong and compe-
tent. I think that she will
really serve that school
well,” Miles said. “They are
really focused on improv-
ing student growth and
achievement.”
For more information or
to see the annual perform-
ance reports, see the Dallas
School District Jan. 8 meet-
ing
packet
at:
https://www.dallas.k12.or.
us/school-board.
Western to celebrate MLK week
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MONMOUTH — Oregon
public scholar and activist
Walidah Imarisha will speak
at Western Oregon Universi-
ty’s annual Martin Luther
King Jr. Commemorative
Dinner. Several of WOU’s
diversity-related groups will
present additional events
surrounding the celebration
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Day from Monday to Jan.
18.
Imarisha is an educator,
writer, public scholar and
spoken-word artist. Imar-
isha has presented
statewide as a public
scholar with Oregon Hu-
manities’ Conversation
Project on topics such as
Oregon Black history, al-
ternatives to incarceration
and the history of hip hop.
Her nonfiction book An-
gels with Dirty Faces:
Three Stories of Crime,
Prison, and Redemption
won a 2017 Oregon Book
Award.
• On the observed holi-
day, Monday, WOU stu-
dents and local communi-
ty members are invited to
make a difference by vol-
unteering to pack care
packages for the Western
Oregon University com-
munity. The event will be
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at His-
toric Gentle House, 855
Monmouth Ave. N. Helpers
must submit a volunteer
form before the event.
• On Tuesday, WOU will
host a “poverty simulation,”
during which students, em-
ployees and community
members will gain a broad-
er understanding of poverty
and its impact on individu-
als through an experiential
learning and critical analy-
sis activity. The session will
be from 2 to 4 p.m. in the
Pacific Room at the Werner
University Center. It is free
to attend.
• The MLK Jr. Celebration
dinner will be at 6 p.m. Jan.
17. Held in the Werner Uni-
versity Center and featuring
a keynote by Imarisha. Tick-
ets are $3 for students and
$5 for general admission
Solution on Page 9A
(including dinner) and can
be purchased at the Werner
University Center front desk
or in Disability Services.
• The final event of the
MLK Jr. commemoration
week will be a Jan. 18 stu-
dent-led forum on the topic
of “Media’s Representation
of Marginalized Communi-
ties.” Members of the WOU
Black Student Union will fa-
cilitate a critical analysis of
media representations in-
cluding the different per-
spectives of attendees. The
conversation will be 4 to 6
p.m. in the Willamette
Room in the WUC.
For more information
about MLK Jr. Celebration
week, visit wou.edu.