District staff recommend converting Harborside Academy from instrumentality charter to district choice school

Kenosha Unified administrators presented a recommendation to the board to convert Harborside Academy from a district instrumentality charter to a district choice school, saying district oversight of budgeting and administrative functions would be simplified while the school's instructional approach would remain in place.

District staff said Harborside opened in 2007 as a district instrumentality charter, later merged with Paideia and moved into a district building; the governance board for Harborside has met and agreed with district staff on the proposed conversion. The packet provided to the board included a Harborside Choice School program guide intended to reproduce the programmatic elements in the charter while aligning financial and administrative processes to the district's standard school budgeting model.

"We can transition Harborside to a district choice school while maintaining Harborside's unique instructional approach," the superintendent said, adding the conversion would preserve students' current enrollment status and would align Harborside's calendar and budget processes with comparable district schools. Staff recommended an effective transition date of Jan. 26 and noted district departments had reviewed the program guide with Harborside leadership.

Board members asked how conversion would affect near-term budgeting and staffing; staff said cost effects would depend on scheduling and implementation choices and that the conversion was not primarily proposed as a cost-cutting measure but as a governance and administrative alignment. No final board action occurred at this meeting; staff presented the recommendation for consideration and anticipated follow-up materials before any final vote.