UPDATED Friday, June 12, with details about a lease agreement that will allow the school to open in the fall. 

On Thursday, the Idaho Public Charter School Commission gave school leaders eight days to submit the contracts. On Friday, Brabeion leaders signed a vehicle lease agreement with Brown Bus Company. Head of School Branden Durst sent EdNews a letter signed by charter commission Executive Director Rachel Burk confirming the school had provided sufficient evidence that outstanding conditions were met and can open this fall.

The commission met Thursday to determine whether the charter school had met conditions due June 1. The meeting culminated in a testy exchange between a school leader and commission Chair Alan Reed.

“That’s not really a question — that’s more of a threat,” Reed said in response to the leader’s pushback over transportation conditions in place for the school. “I understand your question, but take issue with the threat.”

The commission, which meets bimonthly, authorizes most Idaho charter schools and evaluates their performance. Commissioners also considered a new charter school application and conditions for another school Thursday.

Brabeion had not met all conditions for opening

The commission authorized the academy in August, making it the first school approved under Idaho’s 2024 innovation charter law.

To open this fall, Durst and the school’s board had to meet five conditions. The school met three:

1. Provide a signed facility lease agreement by March 1, 2026.
2. Provide evidence of a balanced year-one budget based on enrollment from the spring 2026, lottery by June 1, 2026.
3. Show that all grants and contracts that are part of that year-one budget are signed or otherwise delivered by June 1, 2026.

The two failed conditions were:

1. Have all memorandums of understanding required to operate the school signed by June 1, 2026.
2. Prove sufficient transportation has been secured by June 1, 2026, to the extent the school intends to provide transportation.

The school did not have IT or transportation contracts in place by the deadline.

Durst told commissioners the IT contract wasn’t finalized until Wednesday night because construction at the school kept contractors from viewing the site. He sent the contract mid-meeting Thursday.

“It was really driven by logistics,” Durst said. “It was a safety hazard to let them in.”

Reed said Durst did not effectively communicate the reason for the delay to Rachel Burk, the commission’s executive director.

“Talk to the director. Let us know what’s going on,” Reed said. “We don’t know what’s true and what’s not if there’s no communication.”

Durst said he and Brabeion’s board felt they met the spirit of the condition.

“We saw that as aspirational, not as a literal statement,” said Durst, arguing most school districts do not have all contracts signed by June 1. “Certainly, I don’t believe it’s the commission’s intent, I would hope, to set a standard that’s impossible to reach for a first-year charter school.”

Durst said the school is in a good place with all certified staff positions filled and about 90% of classified staff hired.

He also touted enrollment statistics:

• All grade levels are at capacity.
• More than 200 students are on a waitlist.
• 100 families come from a homeschool environment.
• 30% of the student body is low-income.
• 15% are on an individualized education program (IEP) or a 504 plan, both of which provide accommodations for students with disabilities.

“If the commission had allowed us to, I could have 1,500 students in my school today,” Durst said. “I’ve had that much demand.”

Durst said the school has multiple bids for transportation and argued it exceeded the statute for what a charter school must provide, but he won’t have a finalized plan or contract until July.

Commissioner Wally Hedrick said the conditions were imposed “with no ambiguity.”

“I told you you had to meet those deadlines, and I think those are hard deadlines,” Hedrick said. “But I understand that there are glitches in the process.”

Reed added that “conditions are not aspirational” and were mutually agreed upon.

Tom Moore, Brabeion’s vice chair, asked if all new charters will have to meet the same conditions.

“Are we going to expect every new school have those same conditions that it cannot exceed and they come to you and they don’t have one contract signed in the future,” Moore said. “They can’t be any farther along than we are.”

Reed said he viewed Moore’s concerns as a threat and that the commission evaluates schools individually. He noted that Brabieon is the first under the innovative charter law.

Moore said his question was not meant as a threat. Durst said if transportation is an issue, the school wouldn’t provide any.

“We think it would be good for our kids if we did, but we don’t have to,” Durst said. “So if the commission says we’re going to revoke your charter because of the transportation, then we won’t offer transportation.”

Burk told EdNews that not providing transportation at all would satisfy the condition.

Hedrick motioned to give the school until June 19 to meet the conditions. If commission staff determined Brabieon did not meet the conditions, charter revocation proceedings would begin and the school would not open. The school provided the bus contracts Friday.

Commissioner Sherrilynn Bair argued the commission is getting into “dangerous precedent-setting waters” by allowing more time and was the sole vote against the motion.

Other commission business

• Commission staff oversaw the final aspects PiStem Charter’s closure.
• Commissioners voted unanimously to lift a notice of fiscal concern for Monticello Montessori Charter since 2021. The school failed to pay taxes dating back to 2014 and had other financial practice issues. The school paid back taxes and penalties and demonstrated checks and balances in its financial practices over the last two years.
• The board unanimously denied an application from Ignite Leadership School following a recommendation from commission staff. Staff determined the school did not provide sufficient evidence of student demand and anticipated funds, a complete facilities plan, or a complete pre-opening budget. Commissioners expressed interest and support for the program behind the application and encouraged the school’s board to revise their materials and reapply.
• The increased charter support program ended after funding was not renewed for a third year. Mary Gervase and other school leaders involved in the program shared successes. Gervase recommended the commission start a working group to provide training to school leaders ahead of charter openings, along with adding support tiers for struggling schools. “We’ve shown that proactive support can work,” Gervase said.