Fern Ridge, academy meet over ice cream.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

VENETA - The guests chit-chatted about gardening, grandchildren, summer vacations.

But there was little mention of the potentially nettlesome issue of bringing the Willamette Leadership Academy to the Fern Ridge School District - and that was by design.

At a meeting billed as an "ice cream social" and held at Fern Ridge Superintendent Ivan Hernandez's home, the board and administrators of the Fern Ridge district mingled on the deck Monday evening with their counterparts from the charter school formerly known as Pioneer Youth Corps Military Academy, or PYCO.

The unconventional gathering, orchestrated by Hernandez, came two weeks after the academy made a pitch to the Fern Ridge Board to consider picking up its charter after the Eugene School Board rejected a bid for renewal last month.

For one of the five Fern Ridge board members, it just didn't feel right.

"It's just an odd thing that I felt was inappropriate," said Nick Russo, who wrote to his colleagues explaining his decision not to attend. "I don't want to (socialize) right now. I'm still in the discovery phase, and I don't want to be influenced."

The academy has moved quickly to regain its charter status in the wake of the Eugene board vote on June 11. Faced with operating as a private alternative program next year if it stays in Eugene, the academy board - as well as the separate board of its governing corporation, Pioneer Youth Corps of Oregon Inc. - agreed unanimously late last month to negotiate with Fern Ridge.

Charter schools, allowed under a 1999 state law, are publicly funded but have fewer restrictions and more independence than regular schools.

The academy, which follows a military model and serves mostly at-risk middle- and high-schoolers, appears to have found an ally in Hernandez. He believes that it could not only help kids but also help the district recoup some of its costs for the upkeep of Central Elementary School, the desired location for the charter school. Central closed last year because of budget cuts.

The district also would keep a portion of the state's per-pupil funding allotment for every student there, including those from neighboring communities. Charter schools receive 80 percent of that allotment for K-8 students and 95 percent for high-schoolers, with the sponsoring district keeping the rest.

While Hernandez said the academy must show that it won't be a financial burden, he said he has few concerns about its troubled three-year history in Eugene - one that includes noise complaints among neighbors and concerns among staff and board members over the quality of the curriculum, the stability of its finances and the amount of district staff time required for oversight.

Hernandez said he wanted Monday's event to be a purely social gathering.

"It's a chance for us to see each other as people," he said.

To that end, he led the two dozen guests in a "get-to-know-you" exercise that involved pairing up for interviews to find out about family, education, hobbies and the like. The atmosphere was convivial, with lots of laughs, ice cream and brownies.

Sandie Smith was one of a handful of Fern Ridge parents who came out of curiosity.

"Hopefully, they're not near deciding on it, because obviously the public needs to hear more," said Smith, who has daughters going into fourth and seventh grade.

Fern Ridge Board Chairwoman Gayle Townsend said she thought the meeting was "a bit premature," but that she didn't share Russo's concerns.

"I have a lot of information I need to synthesize," said Townsend, who guessed that the charter consideration may take longer than the academy wants. "On the surface it sounds good, but I know at this point I'm not ready to make any decision."

Board member Joe Zaludek said he found the gathering helpful. "We're not making any public decision," he said. "We're just getting to know some of the folks we're hoping to have a partnership with."