SCSD#2 Board Holds Public Hearing on Cloud Peak Academy

The SCSD#2 Board held its monthly meeting on Monday, September 9th. In the absence of Chairman Shane Rader, Vice-chair Arin Waddell chaired the meeting.

One topic on the agenda was the public hearing and in-person interview process for the Cloud Peak Academy Charter School Application, as per Wyoming Statute 21-3-308a, which states that after receiving an application for a charter school, the authorizer ,(in this case the SCSD#2 school board), shall hold a public hearing on the application, at which time it shall consider the level of community and parental support for new charter school.

Carol Kane, member of the founding board for the proposed Cloud Peak Academy Charter School, presented the plan for the school to the board.

She described the mission of Cloud Peak Academy; To Provide a holistic, balanced educational experience to prepare our students to achieve individual success.

She added that learning would be very individualized to each student. She said that one study she mentioned urged schools to start later so youngsters could get more sleep. She emphasized small class sizes as well, so each student receives more attention from the teacher.

Four people attended the meeting to comment on the Cloud Peak Academy.

Roy Olsen commented that the school idea has ‘possibilities’, but he was concerned about the money.

Jan Green, a retired teacher who still subs in the district, had this comment.

The third speaker, Brian Kuhel had this to say

He said he had two questions, he wondered if an impact study should be conducted to see if the kids that were pulled from the traditional school that went into charter schools would affect programs offered in other SCSD#2 schools, and if some of the needs that the charter school could fulfill could be accommodated by the other schools, instead of building an entirely new school.

Gail Symons spoke to the board, she said the last speaker touched on the subjects she was going to address as well, saying that public schools were the foundation is what keeps us a strong community.

She wondered about class sizes in the existing schools, and the building that would be needed for the school.

After the public comments, Waddell asked several questions of Kane and said that the board would not make a decision on the charter school until the October meeting.