The Cambridge Lakes Charter School in Pingree Grove has been awarded a renewed charter through August 2020 by the Community Unit School District 300 board — with conditions.
A draft charter agreement discussed Aug. 17 was revised to make the renewal date a year earlier than 2021 and to include these provisions:
*”(Management firm) Northern Kane Educational Corp. shall maintain time and effort logs that will be made available to the district upon request for any position where an employee’s responsibilities include both providing services to the charter school-related programs and noncharter school-related programs. If NKEC fails to prepare or provide such time and effort logs for an employee, the board may withhold from its payments to NKEC an amount equal to 50 percent of the salary paid to that employee until such time as NKEC can verify, to the school district administration’s satisfaction, the time the employee allocates to the employer’s various responsibilities.”
*”NKEC’s signatory page to the charter agreement shall only include Sylvia Polletta as the CEO and the NKEC board president (Julie Mahaffrey) as signatories to the charter agreement. It should not include any other individual.”
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While classes began in August for other schools in the district, Cambridge Lakes Charter School has its first day Tuesday. The school is enrolling 818 students for pre-K through 12th grade, according to Anthony McGinn, district director of public relations and communication services.
“We are very excited that our children will continue going to Cambridge Lakes Charter School,” Kelly Yee said. “We are very optimistic that the new management will help to improve the future of the school.”
Kate Van Gheem, of Gilberts, has two children who will attend the charter school this year: Ella in fifth grade and Joshua in seventh.
“I’m hopeful that the new NKEC board will make the right changes for the benefit of the teachers and the students,” Van Gheem said.
Denise Moran is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.