The Meridian School District wants to revoke the charter of one of the state’s biggest charter schools according to Idaho Education News. North Star Charter in Eagle has more than 900 students and has received national recognition for academic rigor.
Debt from a high interest building loan put the school on shaky financial footing. Meridian school board members, fearing a big influx of students mid-year if the deal falls apart, voted Tuesday to begin the process of revoking North Star’s charter.
The K-12 charter school has been wrestling an estimated $640,000 shortfall. The shortfall is a symptom of the 10-year-old school’s debt problems, resulting from a high-interest building loan that consumes more than a quarter of its overall budget. Wells Fargo bank officials provided North Star $650,000 to cover this year’s shortfall, and agreed to defer $850,000 in building payments in 2013-14, North Star Board Chairman Jim Miller told trustees. These moves would be sufficient to get the school through 2013-14, and buy time to renegotiate the long-term loan. - Idaho Ed News
The revocation process can take a long time and involves several steps. Those include written notice to the school, a response period and a public meeting. The school can also appeal to the State Board of Education.
Copyright Boise State Public Radio