A group of parents will unveil a proposal today to open the first charter school in the Medford School District.
The Madrone Trail Public Charter School would offer a Waldorf-style education focusing on the arts and self-directed learning, organizers said.
Funded through the state, charter schools operate independently through their sponsoring school district, charge no tuition and accept anyone who wants to attend as space permits without an inter-district transfer.
Plans for the school will be presented at 7 tonight at the Medford School Board meeting at South Medford High School, 815 S. Oakdale Ave.
"There is a void in Medford of nonsectarian private schools for grades K-8," said Jennifer Tutor, a parent and board member with the Madrone Trail Initiative. "The school provides a way for the district to bring people who have not chosen public education back into the system."
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If approved by the School Board, the school would open in the fall of 2007, serving no more than 70 pupils in grades K-2.
Under the plan, the school would add a grade each year until it built up to grade 8 and about 225 students.
Priority for admission would go first to the children of the school founders and employees of the sponsoring school district, followed by students residing in the district. Out-of-district pupils could fill any remaining slots through a lottery process.
The curriculum would incorporate storytelling, drawing, painting, music and movement in lesson activities. Foreign language and music instruction would begin in the first grade and continue through the eighth grade.
Each class would keep the same teacher for five to eight years to foster personal relationships and a continuum from grade to grade.
Through their sponsoring district, charter schools receive a large portion of the state's per-student funding — 95 percent for high school pupils and 80 percent for those in elementary and middle schools.
The Medford district receives about $5,400 per pupil from the state.
Organizers estimate the Madrone Trail school would bring the school district an additional $1.5 million in state revenue over five years by attracting students previously enrolled in private schools or home schools.
The charter initiative recently was granted a three-year $290,000 federal charter-school incentive grant to help establish the school.
Organizers hope to locate the program in the now-vacant Naval Reserve Center, a 18,000-square-foot building at 3070 Ross Lane, formerly the district's Westside School.
School Board members heard a two-hour presentation on the charter proposal Nov. 2.
One concern board members raised was that approving the charter might lead to the loss of students from public schools in the district, which would mean the loss of state funding used to maintain education programs and curtail class sizes.
"It is (the organizers') belief they will bring in home-school and private-school students," said board member Peggy Penland. "You don't know that until the doors open."
A survey by Madrone Trail organizers of about 75 respondents last fall showed the parents of private-school and home-school students expressed the most interest in transferring their children to the charter school.
Some School Board members also expressed concerns that the charter school plans do not call for an emergency fund, making operations dependent on state funding, fund-raising and grants.
Tudor said fund-raising and grant-writing would supplement state funding, as it has at other charter schools across the state.
Details about the proposal will be available Wednesday on the district's Web site, www.medford.k12.or.us.
Reach reporter Paris Achen by calling 541-776-4459 or pachen@mailtribune.com.
