Pair of charter schools key for School District

Wisconsin Virtual Learning, Sugar Maple Nature School generate revenue, efficiencies for NOSD
By 
MICHAEL BABCOCK
Ozaukee Press Staff

The Northern Ozaukee School District’s unique position of having not one but two charter schools provides the district with financial and operational benefits unmatched by similar districts, Supt. Dave Karrels said last week.

The charters, Wisconsin Virtual Learning and Sugar Maple Nature School, which combined have about 450 students, produce revenue for the district from interest on district-provided loans and contractual agreements. But, the main advantage is in the sharing of operational resources, he said.

The district and the all-online WVL charter school share 12 staff members, all of whom work from the district building, Business Director Josh McDaniels said. Those employees are primarily business and administrative staff.

Without the agreement, the district would have had a tougher time finding quality talent for the positions as they likely would have been part-time or simply outsourced.

“It lets us have full-time, high-quality people in the district who would have otherwise been in part-time positions,” Karrels said.

McDaniels said the district can also generate some revenue by lending money from its fund balance to the schools to plug gaps between when school expenses start and when state aid payments arrive.

He said the district’s and the charter schools’ fiscal calendars line up well so that when the schools need the money, the district is at its most flush.

Last week, the Northern Ozaukee School Board approved a lending agreement with WVL. McDaniels said that last year the district lent $950,000 to WVL at an interest rate of 7%, which generated the district a profit of $13,922.

McDaniels noted that the ability to lend from its fund balance is only possible when the balance is positive. Only a few years ago, when the district was in the red, it had to take out a loan to then lend to WVL.

The district provided a similar loan to Sugar Maple last year, but the school will use a state-established charter school association as a lender going forward.

Both charter schools are non-instrumentality charter schools, meaning they have separate finances and boards of directors.

This designation essentially eliminates any risk for the district in associating with the schools, McDaniels said.

However, it means the district doesn’t reap as much reward either.

For districts with instrumentality charter schools, he said, “In the good years the district gets to keep the schools profit, but in the bad years they have to eat it through their fund balance.”

Charter schools, according to state law, are required to be associated with a school district to be available for open enrollment — the process by which parents can enroll their children in schools not a part of their home districts at no cost.

Karrels said the open enrollment system creates a “very competitive environment” with other districts to keep their own students and take from others.

Northern Ozaukee is almost breaking even on students lost and gained from open enrollment for the first time in many years, McDaniels said.

The district has upped its efforts to retain students, he said. Whenever parents open enroll their child to another district, a district administrator will call them to learn what the district could do to retain the student.

As part of their agreement, Northern Ozaukee receives $500 per student enrolled at Sugar Maple, which currently has about 100 students — a number that is expected to almost double as it expands into offering middle school courses, Sugar Maple Director of Education Cindy Raimer said.

Sugar Maple, located in Hawthorne Hills Park in the Town of Saukville, emphasizes outdoor time and recreation during the school day. It was formerly known as Riveredge Outdoor Learning Elementary School.

While Sugar Maple is less connected to Northern Ozaukee than WVL, it receives help from the district’s tech department and subcontracts with its speech pathologist, Raimer said. Northern Ozaukee administrators also advise the school.

“Anytime there is a question of policy we can turn to Karrels for expertise,” she said.

Of the about 100 students enrolled at Sugar Maple, only about five come from the district, McDaniels said.

Instead, the students come from 16 school districts across southeastern Wisconsin, from West Bend, to Glendale, to Hartford.

McDaniels added that for those few students who attend Sugar Maple instead of the district, it isn’t a total loss since the district still receives one-third of the standard enrollment revenue when losing a student to open enrollment.

He said it is also important to remember that just because a student chooses Sugar Maple over the district, that doesn’t mean they would attend the district without the option.

“If they don’t choose Sugar Maple, who is to say they are going here?” he said.

Karrels said it was a fear that Sugar Maple would eat into the district’s enrollment count when it was established.

“We haven’t seen that at all,” he said. “The vast majority are coming from other districts.

“It is a unique niche. Families are looking for something different.”

Raimer said that charter schools have a reputation for taking from other districts, but she thinks Sugar Maple actually helps the districts their students come from.

“Charter schools solve challenges for traditional districts, too. Our students come because they need more activity and exercise,” she said. “In a traditional classroom that is a disruption.”

Sugar Maple has to be creative with funding, as both the home district and Northern Ozaukee take a piece of its open enrollment funding, Raimer said.

“Charter schools often have to do more with less,” she said.“There are definitely some challenges.”

But, because of its unique educational style, Sugar Maple has been able to raise significant money from fundraising and grants.

In June, the school received a $1 million state grant to assist in adding middle school classes.

The school is considering hosting professional development seminars and workshops for teachers as an additional way to generate revenue.

“One of the things we know is that having kids outside improves academic performance. But what we would like to do is show that to teachers,” Director of Outreach and Development Jeff Kierzek said.

WVL was founded as an instrumentality charter in 2004 as one of the first five virtual schools in the state. In 2011, it was reconfigured into a non-instrumentality school and established its own board of directors.

That board is composed of appointed volunteers from across the state. The current board includes a former principal, college professor, attorney and paralegal.

“They are volunteers and they enjoy it. It’s a community service, they are helping a nonprofit,” Karrels said.

The positions of WVL director and Northern Ozaukee High School principal were previously shared by Mike Leach, who left the district last year. The positions are now separate.

Karrels said that having WVL based out of Northern Ozaukee helps schedule and plan part-time or summer online courses for district students.

“It does open some options,” he said.

McDaniels said marketing is a key part of growing WVL. When it started, its enrollment was carried by being one of a handful of online schools in the state. Now, it faces competition from 62 others, following a boom of new schools being established during the pandemic.

WVL had an uptick in enrollment during the pandemic that has had a lasting affect on enrollment.

As an established school with almost two decades of experience and a rigorous curriculum, it was an appealing option for families compared to the hastily put together online courses of other districts, McDaniels said.

“WVL ebbs and flows,” he said. “In the middle of the year, some students go because they realize virtual learning isn’t for their family and others realize brick-and-mortar school isn’t working.”

Karrels said having two charter schools attached to Northern Ozaukee gives the school versatility and advantages unique for a district its size.

“It is unique. A lot of similar districts our size don’t have any, or if they have one, they only have one,” he said.

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