The Brookings-Harbor School Board will hold a special school board meeting  Jan. 18 in the Kalmiopsis Elementary School Library to vote on a revised Riverside Charter Academy proposal. The regularly-scheduled school board meeting planned for that date was moved to Jan. 25.

At 6 p.m. on Jan. 18, the board will hold a board work session to meet with Andrea Hungerford of Hungerford Law Firm. Hungerford is an attorney for the district and a member and founder of a charter school in Oregon City. She will answer board members’ questions about the revised proposal. Then at 7 p.m. board members will vote on the modified proposal.

 Both meetings are open to the public. 

Riverside Charter Academy is a proposed charter school for grades 5-8, which would emphasize an alternative learning method.

By law, the board is required to vote on the revised proposal.

The charter school planning team submitted its original proposal in mid-September. After public hearings in November, on Nov. 29 the board voted 4-1 to deny the proposal.

After receiving a written explanation for the denial, the planning team submitted a modified proposal to the school board on Dec. 22. 

The board was supposed to approve or disapprove the modified proposal within 20 days of resubmission, but asked for a 10-day extension. The 20-day deadline was Jan. 11. 

If the revised proposal is denied, the planning team can submit a request for a review of the decision by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE). ODE would attempt to mediate a resolution.  If the mediation is unsuccessful, the planning team could seek State Board of Education sponsorship. ODE would have 180 days to make a decision.