Pub. 4 2014-2015 Issue 1

7 Board (SCSB), and freed charter schools from many of the onerous rules and regulations that hamper district and charter schools alike. For example, while every school needs a plan to man- age employee evaluation and termination, Rep. Dillree un- derstood that those plans don’t all have to look the same. The same is true of libraries, administrative and supervi- sory services and many other components of a school’s day-to-day operations. As long as charter schools had to replicate the policies and procedures of a district school, they would never fulfill their promise of meeting the indi- vidual needs of children and families around the state. By creating the SCSB and making its membership tough, but sympathetic to charter schools, HB 152 took much of the politics out of the charter application process. As we have seen over the past decade, it is impossible to remove all politics from the chartering process. Rea- sonable supporters of charter schools can and often do disagree about what is best for Utah’s charter schools. But it is also hard to overstate how far we have come in the past decade. Today more than 100 charter schools are teaching ten percent of the children in Utah public schools. In fact, charter schools have absorbed fully half of the students that have entered Utah public schools over the past decade. Charter schools are an integral part of communi- ties in almost every Utah county. Our relationship with the State Charter School Board and the State Board of Education continues to grow strong. The Association is continually invited to participate in various rule and policy committee meetings because they respect and value our opinions and recognize our common goal to help Utah's charter schools succeed. The same is true of legislative of- ficials around the state. What a wonderful time it is to work with charter schools! While we naturally have a variety of challenges, our opportunities are myriad. And the progress we’ve made is nothing short of spectacular. Going forward, we must work together to remove the Legislature’s artificial cap on the growth of charter schools inherent in the Lo- cal Replacement Funding component of charter school funding. We must cooperate and communicate openly and directly to resolve the sometimes-difficult questions of where to locate a charter school. Recognizing that we have much work to do, we should look forward with hope to the next decade of Utah charter schools. Our best days are still ahead of us. Royce Van Tassell CEO, UAPCS Schoolhouse Development: Building the Future of Education American International School of Utah (AISU) Schoolhouse Development, LLC (801) 278-0800 www.schooldev.us √ SITE SELECTION √ FACILITY FINANCING √ SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION √ SCHOOL MARKETING & GROWTH √ SCHOOL OWNERSHIP Schoolhouse Development is a leading developer of charter school facil i ties throughout the southwestern United States with comprehensive experience in land acqu isi tion, construction, and facil i ty nancing. With over 40 years of combined charter school development experience, Schoolhouse Development has built over 30 new and renovated schools. These schools have over 25,000 students enrolled. Currently Schoolhouse Development is renovating the iconic 49 th Street Galleria to provide over 150,000 square feet of educational space for the American International School of Utah (AISU). CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5