Parents make appeal to school board: Sierra Crest debate continued to June

The future of Sierra Crest Academy came down to a battle between head and heart Wednesday night.

On one side, district staff presented to the Douglas County School Board a detailed account of the Minden-based charter school's noncompliance, ranging from a lack of curriculum for its 66 seventh-12th-grade students to a failure to adhere to the Nevada Open Meeting Law.

The district, which sponsors the charter, maintained that their recommendation for revocation stemmed not from malice, but from the school's repeated failure to correct compliance issues over the last six years. Enacted in 2004, the school's charter expires in June.

"I want to acknowledge the importance of alternative education," said Assistant Superintendent Lyn Gorrindo, who is responsible for auditing the school each year. "We know not all kids are successful in the classroom."

But when it comes to Sierra Crest, Gorrindo said, the school has no curricular guides.

"I can't tell you what's going on in there, or what they're teaching," she said.

On the other side of the debate, more than 70 parents, teachers and students made the case that despite its shortcomings, the school catches those students who would otherwise fall through the cracks of the system. Supporters argued that the school gives outcast youth a home, a family, a sense of belonging.

In some instances, parents said it's literally a matter of life or death.

"In second grade, my daughter was suicidal," said parent Liz Weirauch. "Students made fun of her, and teachers didn't care. By the sixth-grade, she had made her first attempt."

Sierra Crest changed things, Weirauch said. It gave her daughter, who is a high-achieving student, the right atmosphere in which to flourish.

"Thank god for Sierra Crest Academy," she said. "I feel bad that some staff in the district don't care about the school."

After three hours of emotional public comment, Douglas County School Board members voted 4-0 to continue the item until their June meeting. Board member Randy Green, who has a contract to teach government this semester at Sierra Crest, abstained from the vote. Trustees Tom Moore and Cindy Trigg were absent.

School board members instructed Sierra Crest's governing board to adopt the action plan submitted by parent Renee Sweeney, which outlines specific steps to be taken by certain dates to attain compliance, including amending the charter. They also urged Sierra Crest to not only adopt the plan, but to incorporate a provision that the school will voluntarily close in a year's time if the issues haven't been rectified.

Gorrindo said that if Sierra Crest has a clean audit next year, and is off the federal watch list, the school can switch to state sponsorship.

With the disclaimer she used the software program PowerTeacher to audit this academic year, Gorrindo raised several concerns about Sierra Crest courses. She said the district supports the intent of the school's charter to offer project-based learning, but that students themselves had too much discretion and responsibility for formulating the projects and tracking standards.

In the case of first-semester American studies, there were six assignments, out of which three were movie questions. In second-semester American studies, there were 15 entries, nine for participation.

"I'm still wondering about rigor," Gorrindo said. "I cannot say these are aligned with state standards."

For first-semester English I, Gorrindo said she could find no grades at all, though grades appeared on students' transcripts. In second-semester English I, she said there were 49 total grades, but only 10 of those were for ninth-graders only. The rest of the assignments, 84 percent, were repeated throughout English II, III and IV.

Gorrindo argued that data shows students are becoming less proficient in core areas.

Tracking the class of 2011, she said 14 seventh-graders entered the school with 86 percent proficiency in reading and 71 percent proficiency in math. Twenty students of the same class were tested in 10th grade, and reading proficiency had dropped to 75 percent and math to 35 percent. However, of those, only nine students remain enrolled as juniors.

Former Sierra Crest administrator Dave Brackett, who resigned in April, disagreed with Gorrindo's assessment. He said the kind of cohort data Gorrindo used cannot be applied to Sierra Crest, as the school has seen a high rate of transiency. He said the school district is trying to compare apples to oranges and that Sierra Crest is not a rigid learning model.

"If you can show mastery of content, you do not need to have 60 hours of seat-time," he said.

Brackett gave the example of the school's first graduating class of 2009. Out of six seniors, three did not graduate on time because they failed their math proficiencies.

He said those three students were brought back to the school as fifth-year seniors. Two have since passed the math requirements.

"Out of six at-risk kids who had fallen through the cracks in the system, we were able to reach five of the six," he said. "We are trying to meet the educational needs of kids who are historically neglected."

In response to Gorrindo's audit of Sierra Crest courses, Brackett said his teachers had never received adequate training on the PowerTeacher program.

"We have hard-copy grade books, and hopefully you would find our physical grade books should reflect what's going on in the class," he said. "How can you say our education is any different or less if we have to have so many credits and pass proficiencies? Proficiency demonstrates mastery."

"We have to be adaptive to get to these kids," said Sierra Crest teacher Steve Klekar.

A former Douglas High teacher, Klekar said relevancy is key to his students. A math class is not just a math class at Sierra Crest; it delves into English, science and business.

"Any organization that follows a single path is doomed to failure," he said. "Closing this school is going to doom these kids to failure."

Many parents said their children will drop out rather than go back to traditional school.

"This school has to stay open," said parent Sheila Barth. "Budget, compliance - these don't mean anything to these kids. What the school means to them is that they have a place where they can go to learn and be successful."

"Often people assume things about the school, but they don't know what goes on behind its doors," said Sierra Crest ninth-grader Andrew Martinez. "Please don't close the doors to our future. This is our school, our education."

Sierra Crest teacher Daron Knarr said staff members are committed to working with the school district and developing the right curriculum.

"We're being proactive and attempting to meet the compliance issues head-on," he said. "We don't want to fight with you. We want to work with you to become the alternative school you want to see in the this county."

When board member Sharla Hales asked Brackett why he previously recommended nonrenewal of the charter, Brackett said the school, in its current state, is not sustainable.

"But if you make the changes proposed, it could be sustainable," he said.

"It's not OK if you don't have a certain amount of rigor," said board member Keith Roman. "It's not OK if English I is the same as English II, and III and IV are exactly the same. Some things are not OK, and they were pretty well spelled out by the district."

On the other hand, Roman said there is a need for a charter school in the Valley.

"When you come to the meeting, you put a face on it," he told parents. "My heart goes out to the kids who struggle in the system."

Hales said she looked at the issue from an educational standpoint. She questioned whether students were receiving the educational tools necessary to succeed in the world.

"Looking at the numbers, it doesn't seem the school is doing that," she said. "I commend you for your relationships, and they're compelling and laudable, but I don't think the evidence of rigor and results is good enough to justify tax dollars for the school."

Hales said revocation would be no easier next year.

"I don't see us as pulling out the rug or taking it away," she said. "I see six years of opportunity that hasn't been met, and the school has done it to itself. My position is from analysis done with my head, but my heart goes out to all of you who have spoken today."

The school board's next meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. June 8 at Douglas High School.