AURORA | School board members will decide later this month whether to accept an administration recommendation to shutter the Vega charter school amid allegations it doesn’t comply with special education regulations.
During a packed and emotional school board meeting Tuesday night, APS Superintendent Rico Munn advised that Vega Collegiate Academy should be closed. The school board is scheduled to rule on the recommendation at its Feb. 19 meeting.
Members of Vega’s board of directors and school staff testified before the school board, including a special education instructor who tearfully defended the school’s track record of educating students with special needs but admitted that the school had some shortcomings.
“We are a new school, we’re going through some growing pains ― and that’s not an excuse,” Vega Board of Directors President Mark Marshall told the school board. “We need to do better. But we provide a service to these kids that would be sorely missed if we were not allowed to have our charter in APS.”
Vega currently provides kindergarten, first, fifth and sixth grades but will add grades until all k-8 levels are reached. The charter school, located in the basement of a church near the intersection of Moline Street and East Colfax Avenue, led the state in math score growth last year, according to data from the Colorado Department of Education. Over 90 percent of its students receive free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of low-income households.
The prospect of a school shutdown drew dozens of Vega students, in uniform, along with parents and staff to the Tuesday night meeting. Children held signs in support of the school, and some parents cried during the testimony.
At school board Tuesday, Munn’s Office of Autonomous Schools argued that Vega did not adequately staff special education programs — mandated by state and federal law — and gave false information to the district about its progress filling a vacant special education position.
Federal regulations require local school districts provide a minimum of time special-needs students spend in special-education classrooms. APS could liable for federal funding attached to those requirements for shortcomings at Vega, according to APS legal counsel Brandon Eyre.
About 12 percent of the almost 200 students enrolled at Vega receive special education instruction, according to board member Miguel Lovato. Eyre said that five Vega students are still not receiving the proper amount of time in special education classrooms.
The district also alleges that Vega admitted two students requiring center-based care, which it said Vega did not offer. One of those students later left Vega and is owed almost $6,000 for the special needs services they did not receive, according to the district.
However, Vega has made progress toward fixing its issues. Leadership called for more time to correct problems and a better working relationship with the school district.
If its charter is terminated, the school will continue to operate through the current 2018-2019 school year. The district would manage Vega’s special education program or ask the state Department of Education for permission to take over the program if an agreement cannot be reached with the school.
If the school board votes to terminate the charter, it could be possible for another institution, such as the Colorado Charter School Institute, to authorize Vega.
Board president Mark Marshall said he’s hopeful an agreement could be reached to save the school, and that Vega does not currently have any plans to re-negotiate with a third-party charter authorizer like CCSI.