Boise, ID
High 50 | Low 33
Currently: 38°
Mon
54|37
Tue
56|38
Wed
52|34

Hidden Springs Charter School struggles to pay teachers

By BETHANN STEWART - bstewart@idahostatesman.com

Published: 07/09/09


Bookmark and Share
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook
print story email story to a friend
Comments (0) |

The charter school is about $180,000 short of being able to pay about 20 teachers their last paychecks of the 2008-09 school year, which are due at the end of the month.

“We’re working on it,” school board president Joe Saucerman said Thursday. “They will get paid in the normal cycle.”

The school board counted on winning a lawsuit to make payroll, Saucerman said.

The school is working with Bank of America, which holds the loan on the school building, to try to come up with the money, Saucerman said.

The State Department of Education worked with the school to explore any state or federal funding that might be available but didn't find any additional dollars to assist them, said department spokeswoman Melissa McGrath.

"We are continuing to work with school officials as they explore other sources of revenue," she said.

The charter school had filed suit in November, saying the Idaho law that allows public schools to use a previous year’s attendance figures to offset declines in enrollment also applied to charter schools.

Hidden Springs Charter School had a 7-percent drop in enrollment for the 2007-08 school year. Their state funding was reduced by a corresponding 7 percent, or $250,000.

In June, a judge affirmed the decision of State Schools Chief Tom Luna to reduce the funding of Hidden Springs Charter School based on its enrollment for the school year.

The Boise School Board agreed in May to take over the financially strapped charter school starting this fall. According to the agreement, the school forfeits its charter and its staff, including teachers, who have to apply to the Boise School District for their jobs.

No one was available Thursday at the district to say how many of those teachers had been hired for the upcoming school year.

Bethann Stewart: 377-6393

OPTIONS: Most Read Stories  |  Story Comments  |  Email story  |  Print story
hide comments

Story Comments
We welcome comments but ask that you remain on topic. Some comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. Comments that are profane, personal attacks or otherwise inappropriate or are off topic are subject to removal. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Do not flag comments merely because you disagree with the comment.

more about comments here.
Local Deals
Idaho Statesman Top Jobs »
Find a Job
Keywords:
 Location: