Career and College Academy seeks board approval to pursue DPI charter grant for associate-degree pathway

Kelly Demrath, principal of the Career and College Academy (CCA), asked the board Jan. 27 for permission to explore and prepare a Department of Public Instruction (DPI) charter-school grant application that would create a new charter to house the Edge Associates/associate-degree pathway.

Demrath said the CCA launched after a DPI charter grant in 2019–20 enabled expansion of career pathways, staff development and partnerships with Gateway Technical College. She told the board the CCA serves both resident and open-enrolled students and that in 2023–24 the CCA’s total expenditures were about $1.3 million; the program served 219 students, producing a cost-per-student estimate of $6,085 and a positive operational balance after revenue. Demrath said the CCA’s model (dual enrollment with Gateway Technical College and outsourced tuition at times) can be less costly than the equivalent in-district staffing model and that the CCA has produced net positive operational results.

Demrath asked the board for a preliminary endorsement to write a DPI grant to create a separate charter for the associate-degree pathway; she said no formal authorization to create the new charter would be requested unless the DPI award were received. The new charter would allow the district to compete for another charter grant; if awarded, the district would return to the board for formal authorization and any necessary administrative adjustments.

Board members asked about fiscal impacts and administration. Demrath and district staff presented a one-year financial summary for the CCA (estimated tuition and open-enrollment revenue, resident-student revenue and expenses) showing a positive operational balance of $876,000 for the cited year and said the work would be structured to avoid cannibalizing the district’s resident enrollment or requiring net new general-fund subsidies. She said she would continue as administrator; staffing and facilities needs would be managed within enrollment guidelines.

Members voiced support for the CCA writing the grant. Demrath said the DPI application work would begin that month and decisions about award notifications would likely come in late spring. The board did not take a formal vote to authorize a new charter; it gave permission for staff to prepare an application and signaled no objections to submitting the DPI grant.

Why it matters: creating a separate charter could qualify the CCA for additional grant funding and formalize an associate-degree pathway that the district says already yields dual-credit and college-transfer outcomes while generating net positive operational revenue.