In The News.
Charter School Opportunities
By Thomas Munro
New Mexico Business Weekly Staff
Most Charter school directors in New Mexico have one thing in the front of their minds these days – their facilities.
“This is the topic in charter schools right now” said Scott Glasrud, chief financial officer and co-founder of Southwest Learning Centers, a consortium of three Albuquerque charter schools.
While the eccentricities of charter school funding have always made capital spending a complex issue, the current interest is being driven by the approach of a 2010 deadline for all charter school in the state to either occupy a publicly-owned facility (which usually means finding the financing to build or purchase a facility outright) or show that their facility qualifies under one of the other options. (See box)
Charter school facility options
(must meet facility adequacy standards):
1) Public ownership, by the school or another public entity
2) Private ownership with lease-to-purchase
3) Private ownership with owner covering maintenance costs, given either:
a. A lack of publicly-owned alternatives, or
b. Ownership by a nonprofit formed for the purpose
Lisa Grover, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools, said that 55 of the 69 charter schools – along with new schools, which Grover guessed will number five or six next year – are trying to make doubly sure they will pass muster.
Grover emphasizes the opportunity that comes with new schools for private owners willing to work through the exceptions to the public-ownership rule.
“This is a unique opportunity to find what could be a very stable tenant.” She said.
She pointed to the Unser Racing Museum on Montano, which found that housing the Cottonwood Classical Preparatory school help offset some of its maintenance costs.
“Part of the idea of a charter school is increased community involvement,” Grover said.
Many other schools, Grover added, will consider ownership, whether through outright purchase by a nonprofit created for the purpose or through a lease-to-purchase agreement.
Glasrud said that while his facility, like most, already qualifies under some of the exceptions, he is feeling the nudge toward ownership.
“Our No.1 priority is to make this a public facility,” he said.
He needs the facility he is already in because it is highly specialized to satisfy the needs of his high-tech curriculum. To stay in it as the pressure to go public increases, the school is considering following a lease-to-purchase process or possibly issuing a private bond – if Albuquerque Public Schools will agree to guarantee it.
But others are seeing the deadline as a prompt to find new space.
Chris McMahan, business development manager with Gerald Martin General Contractor, said his company, which has a specialty in educational facilities, is hearing from a lot of charter schools.
“Several of the existing charters are looking for new location, and my understanding is they’re looking for locations that meet the mandate,” McMahan said.
That means, among other things, meeting the state’s strict adequacy standards, which cover everything from non-negotiable health, fire and safety standards to minute details like the size of the janitors’ closets.
“They are the strictest building codes of all, pages and pages long,” said Grover.
But, Glasrud said, this is only fair, going along with the philosophy behind public education.
“These are public school kids and they deserve to be in a public facility constructed to the same standards as other public schools,” he said.
McMahan’s firm is currently working on several charter school projects and offers services such as helping school find financing and hooking them up with developers. Gerald Martin points them toward developers who have built other charter schools.
Grover, whose group represents 97 percent of the charter schools in the state, said it can help potential landlords find charter schools who need facilities. The next crop of new schools will be revealed officially Sept. 12.
Grover and Glasrud agreed that the mandate is creating anxiety and uncertainty for many schools. And while Grover said most existing schools are sitting pretty, Glasrud expects some to struggle.
“They’re probably going to have to extend that deadline,” he said.
Posted September 17, 2008