The Lebanon School Board on Monday approved a resolution that, if agreed to by the board of People Involved in Education (PIE), will extend the current operating contract of Sand Ridge Charter School for one year.

The resolution extends the current contract from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, but gives officials from both sides until Dec. 31, 2008, to negotiate a new contract beyond the 08-09 school year. The deal comes less than two weeks before the current contract would have expired, leaving the future of the school in doubt.

The district and PIE, the nonprofit that operates Sand Ridge, have been negotiating a new contract since last December, when the board voted to renew the school's charter.

Negotiations stalled as both sides failed to reach agreement on a several issues, most notably PIE's past failure to register teachers and administrators in a timely manner with the state Teachers Standards and Practice Commission (TSPC) and the operation of an additional charter school and a private preschool.

At the May 5 school board meeting, the board, by a 3-2 vote, accepted a list of amendments to the current contract, written by board member Josh Wineteer after consultation with PIE president Jay Jackson, as the basis for a new five-year contract. According to the amendments, Sand Ridge would have had a 280-student enrollment cap, but funding from the district to the charter school would have increased by five percent if certain preconditions were met.

During a two hour discussion Monday, the board's legal counsel, Paul Dakopolos, presented the board several options to keep Sand Ridge open:

€ Approve a five-year contract written by Jackson to reflect the May 5 contract amendment.

€ Approve a two-year interim contract prepared by Dakopolos.

€ Approve the current contract with an attached copy of the amendments.

Dakopolos said he didn't believe Jackson's contract accurately reflected the May 5 amendments or gave the district a clear means to recover any loss loss of funding if the Oregon Department of Education sanctions the Lebanon School District over non-registration of charter school teachers, something ODE has twice warned that it would do.

At least one board member, Debi Shimmin, said she had not seen Jackson's contract, and Jackson said he had never been provided a copy of Dakopolos' proposed interim contract.

Jackson broke the deadlock by offering the joint resolution between the district and PIE. He had originally offered the same resolution in February. The board amended the resolution to reflect its desire to see Sand Ridge funding increased by five percent, charter school teachers included in district professional development classes and PIE authorized to run multiple charter schools and other entities in a new contract.

The PIE board met Tuesday to vote on the resolution, but their decision was not available at press time.

Although the agreement would allow an enrollment cap of 298 students next year, Jackson said PIE was unlikely to reverse its decision after the May 5 vote capping enrollment at 280 to not accept enrollment or re-enrollment for students in grades 9-12 next year.

"At this point, most of the families have probably made other arrangements," Jackson said.

Sand Ridge will not receive the five percent funding increase next year, and the agreement does not include teacher registration enforcement provisions the district has told ODE it would seek to put in a new contract.

"By no stretch of the imagination did we solve a lot of issues tonight," Jackson said.

Assistant Superintendent Steve Kelley said the district has verified that all Sand Ridge teachers are licensed or registered. Jackson's registration as Sand Ridge administrator is the only unresolved TSPC issue at this time.

Starting with the current school year, charter school administrators are now required to register. Jackson submitted his registration packet last December. Issues surrounding a Oregon State Bar ethics complaint of Jackson, an attorney, have held up a decision by TSPC.

In February, the PIE board appointed administrators for the two Sand Ridge campuses and made Jackson director of PIE business operations, a position he says does not require him to register with the state.

The next meeting of the Lebanon School Board is 7 p.m. July 7 at the district office. The first agenda item will be for the board to select a new board chair and vice chair.