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Charter principal says school earned eight-year renewal, cites academic gains and warns of state funding risk
Summary
Ashley Perkins, principal of the local charter school, told the Elko City Council on Feb. 24 that the school earned an eight-year charter renewal after strong test projections and growth to about 400 students, but she warned state rules could put charter savings at risk of reallocation to school districts.
Ashley Perkins, principal of the local charter school, updated the Elko City Council on Feb. 24 on the school’s facility remodel, enrollment growth and state accountability results, and announced the school received an eight‑year charter renewal.
Perkins said the school grew from about 198 students to roughly 400 and that midyear SBAC performance data project proficiency into the 70s, up from a prior elementary proficiency near 30 percent. “We did get an 8 year renewal,” she told the council, calling that the longest renewal she’d seen.
Perkins explained how charters are evaluated under three frameworks—academic, financial and operational—and said the school must continue to meet those standards to keep the charter. She described operational improvements at pickup and drop‑off following the remodel and noted the school uses grants and a mix of funding streams to pay staff.
On funding policy, Perkins warned of a legislative push to reclaim charter savings: “The legislature of Nevada is killing education,” she said, urging the council to recognize pressures that could require charters to surrender money above a 16 percent savings threshold back to districts. She said the law has long existed but that it has not been enforced locally to date and that the school has not lost funds so far.
Council members asked whether parents at the charter are more involved than in district schools; Perkins said parent involvement is strong in some areas but not universally higher, and that the school sometimes asks parents to participate directly in students’ academic interventions. She also described managerial flexibility at a single‑school charter that allows quicker staffing and curriculum adjustments than a district system.
The principal closed by thanking donors and city supporters and by noting the charter remains subject to a three‑year corrective process if future performance declines. The information provided was informational only; no council action was requested on the renewal itself.
