29-01-2025
Charter School Authority absorbs 6 CCSD-run charter schools
Students at FuturEdge Charter Academy, formerly 100 Academy of Excellence. (Photo courtesy of Clark County School District)
The Nevada State Public Charter School Authority on Friday assumed oversight of six charter schools previously sponsored by Clark County School District.
With the transfer of the six schools and their combined 5,550 students, SPCSA essentially becomes the second largest school district in Nevada, overtaking Washoe County School District. Fewer than 650 students separated the two late last year when the state conducted official enrollment counts.
SPCSA schools now enroll around 69,000 students.
The rate of enrollment growth in SPCSA schools has significantly outpaced both WCSD and CCSD for years.
The transfer marks CCSD's complete exit from charter school operation. CCSD, which is still by far the largest school district in the state, stopped considering applications to sponsor new charter schools in 2007. In May 2024, the district publicly announced it planned to stop sponsoring its existing six charter schools and transfer oversight to the Charter School Authority.
Clark County School District transferred six charter schools to the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority:
Delta Academy,
Explore Knowledge Academy
Innovations International Charter School of Nevada
FuturEdge (formerly 100 Academy of Excellence)
Rainbow Dreams Academy
Odyssey Charter Schools
Those transfers were approved by the Charter School Board on Friday. The votes were unanimous, minus abstentions for possible conflicts, but some board members expressed concerns about the Authority taking on low-performing schools.
'CCSD didn't want to see these schools shut down,' said Charter School Authority Executive Director Melissa Mackedon, noting that all of the schools have been around for at least 15 years.
Mackedon said discussions about a possible transfer happened 'at least four or five years' ago–well before she was appointed to lead the authority–but her understanding was that the SPCSA agreed to take the schools and give them a limited contract.
Only one of the six charter schools, Odyssey Charter School, was approved for a six-year SPCSA contract. Odyssey has received three, four or five (out of five possible) stars on the Nevada Department of Education's Nevada School Performance Framework (NSPF) in recent years. Ratings of three and above are generally considered acceptable.
Four of the charter schools were approved for three-year contracts because of recent 1- or 2-star NSPF ratings.
'They've been given a window of three years to improve or not renew,' Mackedon said.
The sixth charter school, which is not subject to star ratings, was also approved for a three-year contract because of concerns abouts its unique financial and enrollment setup.
Mackedon told board members that the transfer from CCSD to the SPCSA will not impact whether the charter schools become subject to existing mandatory closure laws for low-performing charter schools.
'Their history comes with them. This isn't a 'you get to start all the way over' situation,' she added.
FuturEdge Charter Academy, formerly known as 100 Academy of Excellence, and Innovations International Charter School, have both received 1-, 2- or 3-star NSPF ratings in recent years.
Explore Knowledge Academy, which serves students from kindergarten through 12th grade, had a history of 3-, 4- and 5-star reviews but most recently received a 2-star rating for its elementary school. It also received a poor rating for its financial management.
Abbe Mattson, the superintendent at Explore Knowledge, told the board the school saw enrollment drop two years ago, which caused financial problems.
'We're in recovery mode,' she said. 'We don't anticipate problems moving forward.'
Delta Academy, a middle and high school with in-person, online and hybrid classes, had a history of 1- and 2-star ranking and in 2020 was approved by CCSD and the state department of education to be rated using an alternative performance framework.
For the past three years, Delta was found to be improving or maintaining its performance on that alternative framework.
Charter School Authority staff noted that the framework will need to be reviewed with the transfer. The Authority prior to last week had only one school, Beacon Academy, approved for review under an alternative performance framework. Enrollment at Beacon is limited to severely credit deficient and other at-risk students.
The Charter School Authority will also have to come up with performance review criteria for Rainbow Dreams Academy, which operates preschool and kindergarten programs. Because it does not offer all elementary school grades, it is not subject to the NSPF ratings.
The preschool program is funded by Clark County through a contract approved by the county commission, not the pupil centered funding formula the state uses to fund K-12. A Rainbow Dreams administrator acknowledged that the preschool funding, which will be subject to renewal by the Clark County Commission, is required to make their school financially viable.
Mackedon said that, if the commission were to not renew the contract, the authority would work with Rainbow Dream to assess their options.
Charter School Board member Patricia Haddad Bennett, who previously worked in government relations for CCSD, noted that Rainbow Dreams used to offer grades K-5 but transitioned to offering only preschool and kindergarten because of poor academic performance.
'The accountability is real… Our job is really important,' she said. 'While happy to move forward with the transfer of sponsorship, we should just be mindful. If there are changes to their program, looking at that history and that track record, I would hesitate to increase grades in order to make the budget add up.'
Administrators with the six charter schools are expected to appear before the Charter School Board in the upcoming months to provide members with additional information about their schools, according to Mackedon.
