Nearly a year after the Lebanon School Board renewed its charter, Sand Ridge Charter School is close to getting a permanent operating contract. The board came to a consensus on funding and enrollment Monday night.

The board voted to renew the charter on Dec. 3, despite a number of allegations by the district that Sand Ridge was in breach of the current contract. Talks on a new contract did not begin for several months and quickly stalled.

Negotiators for the district and People Involved in Education (PIE), the nonprofit organization that operates the charter school, are facing a board-imposed deadline of Dec. 31 to forge a new five-year contract. Sand Ridge has been operating under a temporary extension of its old contract, which expired on June 30.

Paul Dakopolos, the district's legal counsel, told the board that funding and the enrollment cap for the charter school were the two biggest obstacles to completing a new contract by the end of the year.

By law, charter schools receive 80 percent of the state funding - known as averaged daily membership (ADM) - that districts receive for their students in grades K-8 and 95 percent for grades 9-12. The remaining amount is used by the district to cover administrative costs associated with sponsoring a charter school.

Proposals put forth over the past several months by PIE, the district and the board have suggested an increase in funding to between 85 and 100 percent of ADM.

Rick Alexander opened the contract discussions Monday by suggesting Sand Ridge receive 80 percent ADM for grades K-8 and have an unlimited enrollment cap. Sand Ridge is currently limited to 298 students and has about 280 enrolled after suspending its 9-12 program this year.

Chair Josh Wineteer said any increase in funding over the 80 percent minimum was not likely, but he favored increasing the enrollment cap.

"It's an opportunity to capture additional revenue from home schoolers and out-of-district students who wouldn't attend a traditional public school," Wineteer said.

Other board members were cool to the idea of unlimited enrollment.

Chris Fisher said he would agree to an unlimited enrollment cap if it limited in-district transfers to the charter school to a fixed number. Fisher said he was worried that too many transfers to the charter school could have an adverse financial affect on other Lebanon schools.

The board settled on an enrollment cap of 324 students with the state minimum funding after PIE president Doug Miner said that was the maximum capacity of Sand Ridge's two campuses. The increased cap would allow the school to run two classes of 18 students each per grade with a teacher and assistant, Miner said.

The 324 student enrollment cap agreed to by the board does not place any restrictions on where students transfer from. Although the board reached a consensus on enrollment and funding, it did not take a vote. Once a final contract is negotiated the board will vote whether to approve it.

After the meeting, Alexander said he had not expected the board to go along with an unlimited enrollment.

"I knew it would fail," Alexander said. "I just wanted to energize everyone and get a good conversation started so we could get something hammered out."