Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Saturday, February 23, 2008

Charter school lease aid article is misleading

By Les Hittner / Guest view

An Associated Press story in the Winona Daily News online edition, Feb. 20 (I have not found it in the paper edition) accuses charter school leaders who form a separate not-for-profit building corporation that secures funding to buy or build a facility to lease back to the charter school of “clearly circumventing the law.”

The article goes on to imply that additional lease aid funding is flowing from the state of Minnesota into charter school coffers because of this practice — without voter approval.

Simply put, the practice does not circumvent the law and lease aid is not affected.

Bluffview Montessori School is one of those charter schools that has formed a building corporation. The BMS Building Corp. is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) “school support organization.”

This organization sought funding through private investment to construct a school building, which it now leases to Bluffview Montessori School. The people and organizations who bought the BMS Building Corp. bonds did so willingly. They did it as an investment.

Why did Bluffview do this?

Perhaps the most important reason was that school leaders and families wanted to be able to depend upon its building. They did not want to risk being put out on the street because a landlord found a better tenant or determined that the building could be put to a better use. It’s difficult to build a solid long-range vision if the school building itself has no permanence.

Many charters find themselves in old storefronts, vacant school buildings owned by “traditional” school districts, warehouses, etc.

All of these places are temporary; subject to the whims of their owners. Oftentimes these structures are not well suited to be used as schools in the first place or are not located close to outside play areas.

Bluffview’s school leaders and families wanted a structure that served the Montessori Method well and that met the standards of an elementary school — including outside play space.

The most important thing that sets the BMS Building Corp. apart from other landlords is that it is committed to the best interests of the school. The building corporation has no interest other than providing facilities support to Bluffview Montessori School. That is the security the school needs to build a quality program, because Bluffview Montessori Charter School is in the business of education for the long haul.

What is the impact on lease aid?

Technically, the impact is zero. The decision that a charter school might make with respect to expansion

is a marketing decision.

Is there a market for the educational services that the charter offers? If there is, the school may consider expansion.

Only once that decision has been made does the charter then begin looking for a suitable space. No matter who the landlord is, the larger space will likely come at a higher price tag.

Lease aid is driven by the student count. In the case of Bluffview, our annual lease aid is the lesser of 90 percent of the total lease amount or $1,500 per student and it doesn’t make any difference who the landlord is.

We chose to lease our building from the BMS Building Corp.

It’s a not-for-profit corporation, so the cost of the lease is as small as it can possibly be, and that’s just good business. The BMS Building Corp. is also dedicated to the success of Bluffview, so the school knows it will not be put out on the street.

The building offered by BMS is a building that was built to be a Montessori school, and that’s what our charter is all about.

Incidentally, the Minnesota Department of Education recognizes that well-established charter schools like Bluffview must depend upon stability in their school buildings. They cannot afford to be shuffled about from storefront to storefront.

For this reason, one of the first questions that charter school leaders are asked when they attend state-sponsored charter-specific financial workshops is: “Have you formed a building corporation?”

Bluffview’s answer is, “Yes we have — and it is serving us very well.”

Hittner is the director of operations of Bluffview Montessori School and a member of the board of directors of the BMS Building Corp.