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Application for Population Increase
Posted On 18 Sep 2013
UPDATE: APPLICATION WAS APPROVED. Details and Hearings Officer’s findings here.
The Corbett School District is applying with Multnomah County for a community service permit that will increase the student population for the Corbett School district. The application was due November 24, 2012 to Multnomah County – however CSD did not submit that application until early February 2013. When the request for additional information and clarification came from the County in early March, CSD did not respond for two more months, citing the school board elections as part of the reason for delay.
The School Board has not been involved at all with this application for population increase. This process has not been on any school board agenda, has never been open for discussion nor has any input been allowed from the residents or parents who live in Corbett.
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Select here to review the timeline and download the applications and related documents.
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Corbett’s Charter School was NOT legally established with Multnomah County
No permits are on record for the establishment of the Corbett Charter School. An expansion of the student body population within the existing school buildings requires a conditional use permit in the GGRC zone too. Conditional uses must meet the base zone’s development standards as well as the off-street parking standards and NSA Site Review standards.
In order to provide “good quality information” …. The audio of this meeting is available so that people can hear, for themselves, the information about the Charter School and the issues with traffic and safety addressed at this County meeting. You can also hear that ODOT ( Oregon Department of Transportation ) and the NSA ( National Scenic Act ) legally needed to be involved in any expansion and they also were never notified. You can download the pre-application, submitted by Randy Trani and Peter Fry, in July of 2012 at the above link.
“When I came to Corbett seven years ago there were 50 percent fewer students in the district and at least 25 percent more employees.” – Randy Trani from his 7 page paper from January 2011 about the Charter School. ( According to ODE enrollment data this is not a true statement. )
“The Resident population over the last 8 years has gone from 525 to around 700 resident students…” Randy Trani speaking at the August 2012 pre-application meeting with Multnomah County. ( At 24:15 of the audio )
” Over the last four years our resident population has increased by nearly 25% percent to 663! “ – Randy Trani and his view that Corbett is growing substantially and that transfer outs are down from October 2012. [ Link to CSD blog. ]
” Five years ago, when I was the principal, Corbett was host to around 170 inter-district transfer students. Some of those students had been “Corbett Kids” for many years. ” – Randy Trani in his explanation of the letter sent to the Charter in April 2013 about possible non-renewal of their rental agreement.
* According to the Oregon Department of Education ( ODE ) Corbett’s resident ( students actually living in Corbett ) student population in 2008 was 696. Backing out the “170 inter-district transfer students” means our resident population ( living in Corbett ) was 525.
According to ODE our resident population has has fluctuated between 600 and 700 students for the past 20 years. We show 673 enrolled in 1993. We show 705 in 1998. That seems to prove that from 1998 to 2008 we actually lost 180 resident students. While we may have added more families/students locally since that time, the fact is our resident population seems to have remained mostly the same.
The last page of the below pdf shows the enrollment data from 1993-2000 through the district’s own submissions to the state as part of their TRANSPORTATION REPORTS. [ Link to the ODE numbers here. ]
Yes, our district numbers have significantly increased over the last 4 years.
- We created a Charter School , and then expanded that Charter School when we had an accounting error in the amount of $725,000.
- Benefited from new laws ( HB3681 ) as of January of 2012 (which allow CSD to call a student a “RESIDENT” even if they do not reside in Corbett.)
- We opened CAPS in Springdale, allowing in more students.
- Keep in mind also, if a student leaves ( that lives here in Corbett ) and goes to a private school or is home schooled, these numbers are not reported to ODE. So our “transfer out” rates are not accurate, as we all know someone being home schooled or going to Open Door or Phonics Factory.
Here we go again blowing things out of proportion. Just because the pre-application asks for 1800 students, its just a number. When dealing with government entities, you ask for more so you don’t ever have to go back again. I really doubt Randi has any plans to bring in a total of 1800 students.
I have dropped off kids at corbett in the afternoons and the mornings and to say its dangerous, is ridiculous.
Do you ever have anything positive to say?
Sunshine
We used to have a great school district. Randi Trani and the Corbett School Board are bringing Corbett one step closer to becoming Gresham.
My kids were the lucky ones to enjoy a great education with small class sizes at Corbett prior to 2009. If Corbett School District continues to move in its present direction, the results for the community of Corbett will be higher taxes, increased traffic, more crime, more pollution, bigger class sizes and less individualized instruction and opportunities for our children. Corbett children will not benefit from bringing more students into a school district designed for a small community.
Randi Trani and the school board will rationalize these changes as necessary for “progress”. People of Corbett, all you have to do is look at what has happened to your 4th of July Festival. It is just a small example of what this type of thinking /progress will bring you.
It has never been so obvious that today’s Corbett School District leaders have their agenda backwards: to make money first and educate children second. What the future holds for Corbett are all the things we live here to avoid: traffic, high taxes, crime, pollution, and people from outside our community telling us how to run our schools; all in the name of progress, while our leaders are sneaking their wannabe big city hands into our pockets and asking for more.
I know this sounds ignorant but I thought that without the charter school the district was in danger of being shut down because of funding? Thought it was a win win for both sides? As an outsider I can’t begin to convey the appreciation I have for ccs. Although I acknowledge the traffic is heinous…the benefits of of having a school system that rates so high nationally counts for so much. And the opportunity to have kids educated in a community that has so much to offer is priceless. I would love to see a transportation system that eases the burden of the locals. Well educated kids benefits only everybody. Thanks tor sharing your space Corbett. I hope in the long run we are all better for it.
“Sunshine”: All residents of Corbett, or at least our elected school board of directors, should be brought into this discussion prior to applying for any population increase. This has really nothing to do with the Charter School since with HB3681, as of January 1 of 2012, we don’t need a Charter School to bring in out of the area students. ( http://corbettpost.com/news/house-bill-3681/ ) As we have done with Springdale…
Traffic on our roads and the pick up and drop off at the school have clearly been an issue to many parents and residents. In fact, the packets parents receive tomorrow and this week will illustrate the school’s attempt to make it safer by completely redesigning how this works and adding much needed improvements. They will also be bussing some kids in from Troutdale. I think that’s something very positive to mention.
Accreditation: We only have a probationary accreditation title for the Charter and District. Both schools will have to complete a thorough review of how they operate and how they educate as a school, to prove they can earn full accreditation or they will lose that probationary title. There are already changes in curriculum and signs the Corbett School District is trying to align itself with best practices. http://corbettpost.com/csd/is-csd-accredited/
“Charter Mom”: The Charter was originally explained to the community as a way to retain the 100 or so students that would have had to return to their home districts when laws changed. The claim and idea that the Charter has saved our district financially is ironic to those following along. (After the Charter opened its doors we had a huge shortfall in our budget within the first year… and the board had to place an emergency levy on the ballot. ) Since it was never properly explained to the community how the district made a $650,000-$725,000 accounting error, the levy failed. ( Board minutes from 9/15/2010 show Randy Trani estimating the budget shortfall at $725,000 ) Subsequently, then the Charter was allowed to expand to “save us” . Read here for the details: http://corbettpost.com/public-letters/how-did-we-get-a-charter.
National Ranking: Many parents do not understand that this ranking is only based on AP tests and how invested we are in an AP FOR ALL program at our high school(s). This ranking is based heavily on the number of tests taken … not tests passed. ( We pass only about 25-30%. ) Read here for more info: http://corbettpost.com/news/newsweek/
I have to agree. My wife and I do not like what has happen to our 4th of July festival and the big city atmosphere that the organizers have created. Our children no longer go to Corbett school. My grand daughter ask me to read this. I do find it puzzling that a $650,000 accounting error was never properly explained to the community and why has there never been an AUDIT of the schools books? Maybe the tax payers of Corbett are paying our school leaders too much $$. I do not understand what is going on at the school. What I do understand is when someone comes into my backyard pretending to have the community’s best interest, playing politics and thinking for one minute that they are beyound approach and that they answer to no one ….it does not have our best interest at heart. How big do you want your school to become? Sometimes less is more. We have lived here for over 30 years and we still love it, but It is changing before our eyes and not for the better. GodBless
Whats silly is that this is just a “pre-application” to find out how to do things.
Why don’t you give the admins the opportunity to do some research and bring “accurate” information back to the board. There will be public comment meetings, I am sure several board meetings, and opportunities for folks to comment it just isn’t on day 1. If you had to have a meeting for every step in a process, you would never get anything done.
Corbett public and corbett charter are both great schools, far better than any of the surrounding public districts by a long shot. Give the admins some credit for the great job that they do with our kids. Just the fact that the students are taking a/p exams are a great opportunity to prepare them for college or whatever their next step may be.
Sunshine
AUDITS AND ACCOUNTING ERRORS:
Audits are done every year I believe. Unfortunately when the accounting error was discovered, soon after Randy Trani took the reigns from past Superintendent Dunton ( now Charter Director ), our board did not choose to pursue a ‘line item audit’, which would have helped isolate how exactly this happened. Instead there was an emergency board meeting that was held on the same day that the levy was placed on the ballot. See here for more details: http://corbettpost.com/news/levy-info/
When the levy failed, CSD eventually blamed state funding on the shortfall in our budget and it was directly tied to how we allowed the expansion of the Charter School. In May 2011, our school board voted ( 5-2 ) to expand and extend the Charter School contract after no actual review of how they were doing. ( The vote was placed on the agenda the day before the public meeting and the board had TWO executive sessions discussing it prior to the vote in public. We renewed the Charter two years premature to the original agreement expiring – and until 2014. Making this a Charter with a 5 year contract and a Director and his wife earning over $320,000 as of 2010. ) We replaced two of the board members that voted for this expansion, in June of 2011. For that discussion: http://corbettoregon.com/forum/index.php?topic=441.0
AUDIT FINDINGS FOR YEAR ENDING JUNE 2011:
For the school year ending June 30 of 2011 we had 9 significant deficiencies listed in the auditors management letter on page 2-3. Our audits have consistently pointed to issues of internal control for CSD over the years. Some of these deficiencies found in the above mentioned audit: receipts not matching deposits, journal entries being adjusted without review and no written internal control policies and procedures.
Select here to read the management letter from the Auditor that lists 9 “significant deficiencies” for 2010/2011 for the Corbett School District.
* Both the Charter ( Bob Dunton ) and District ( Randy Trani ) are now on record saying they are looking at getting different auditors for next year.
AS TO SALARIES:
ACCORDING TO THE CORBETT CHARTER WEB SITE FOR 2009-2010, BOB DUNTON EARNED:$202,704. ( Page 7 of the 990 from 2009, for the Corbett Charter School Association, lists the following: Sheri Dunton ( Bob Dunton’s wife ) listed as the DIRECTOR, Randy Trani ( Current Superintendent of CSD ) as the President and Bob Dunton ( Past Superintendent of CSD ) as the Secretary )
ACCORDING TO THE CORBETT CHARTER 990 for 2010-2011 BOTH BOB DUNTON AND HIS WIFE EARNED:$325,114 ( Bob earning 214,173 and Sheri 110,941 as a teacher ) Note that Kieran Egan replaced Randy Trani on the 990 and is listed as a “board member”, as is Sheri Dunton. Bob Dunton is now listed as the PRESIDENT. (Kieran Egan is the creator of the Imaginative Education Research Group: http://corbettpost.com/csd/imaginative-learning/imaginative-learning/ Of which CSD has focused much of their WHOLE SCHOOL DISTRICT.) http://corbettpost.com/csd/charter-school/
Keep in mind that for 2012-2013, the Charter School also has budgeted $750,000 for payments to the Corbett School District for Rent, Music, Tech Support, Supplies, Custodial, Curriculum, etc. Just want to keep folks informed on what part of the charter budget goes to the Corbett School District.
According to the meeting today at the County ( link to the handout and audio is at the top of the page and here: http://corbettpost.com/news/pre-application-meeting-august-23/) the Corbett Charter School was never lawfully established with the County. Now it will need to be addressed through the approval criteria of this application …. because it NEVER WAS SUBMITTED OR REVIEWED by the county at all. That includes impact of students/traffic/property.
Maybe Randy Trani says there won’t be 1800 kids, and he may even believe and intend there to be less.
But you can’t hold school officials to their verbal words or what you thought they meant. You can only make them abide by the law. That’s why 1800 isn’t “just a number” …it’s the ONLY number that counts.