Charter school commission approves three-year renewal for Whatcom Intergenerational High School

The Washington State Charter School Commission voted on Feb. 19, 2026, to approve a three-year renewal of the charter contract for Whatcom Intergenerational High School, contingent on execution of a new contract within 90 days or by June 30, 2026, if the executive director grants an extension.

Commission staff recommended the renewal after reviewing the school performance report, the renewal application, a site visit and public comments. Staff said Whatcom had resolved prior corrective action plans, improved organizational performance indicators and submitted a budget demonstrating financial viability for the proposed contract term. As staff summarized the record, "renewal is based on the school performance report, the renewal application, public comments, the site visit and the report from it," and noted the school had moved from prior noncompliance into full compliance.

Members of the Whatcom community addressed the commission during the public-comment period. Shirley Williams (Coosumott), cofounder of White Swan Environmental and Intergenerational High School, told commissioners that implementation matters: "We are not asking to lower standards, we are asking for coherence so that what the state affirms in policy can be sustained in practice." Students and families, including Austin Johnson (ELA teacher) and several current and former students, described academic growth, community connections and the school's place-based and intergenerational approach.

School leadership — including the school's education director and operations director — described steps taken to improve attendance, academic programming and special-education services. The operator said the school had revised schedules, hired additional staff to meet students' Individualized Education Program minutes and added a student-success course to support credit recovery. In describing culture and improvement, the school's education director said the work required "establishing a culture of trust" while implementing tools to monitor attendance and student outcomes.

The commission read a formal resolution that cited statutory and regulatory authorities and set conditions for final approval. The resolution states the renewal satisfies procedural requirements and was approved "for a 3 year term to begin immediately following the current contract term contingent upon the following: 1) execution of a new contract within 90 days unless the executive director grants an extension to no later than 06/30/2026; 2) final approval will not be effective until the listed conditions have been satisfied." The commission adopted the resolution by roll call vote.

What comes next: staff will finalize contract language and monitor the school’s fulfillment of the conditions. The commission scheduled monitoring and continued technical assistance as part of its routine oversight.

(Reporting based only on the commission meeting record and public comments presented at the Feb. 19, 2026 meeting.)