Financially troubled school gets reprieve.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

VENETA - Willamette Leadership Academy Board Chairman David Wright walked into Tuesday night's board meeting expecting to vote to close the school on Jan. 27, barring any financial miracles between now and then.

But after more than two hours of impassioned, occasionally angry, testimony from parents, students and staff members - punctuated by closed-door deliberations by the board midway through - the school earned yet another reprieve.

"We're not prepared to make a decision tonight," Wright said after the board tabled discussion until Jan. 23 and adjourned.

The indecision left parents scratching their heads but clinging to hope that the school, with their help, can afford to stay open through the end of the year.

It was the third time since November that the board has been on the brink of closing the struggling charter school, which is nearly $45,000 in debt and losing at least $5,000 monthly, due mainly to lower-than-expected enrollment.

But this time, finances - while still plenty worrisome - showed a positive trend.

"We're seeing improvement in enrollment, public relations and minor improvements to finances," Bill Lay, the school's founder and CEO, told the board, though he acknowledged that there's far to go to get back into the black.

As of this week, enrollment stands at 75 - higher than in November, but shy of the 150 predicted for the fall. It would take at least 20 more students to stop the hemorrhage of funds, Lay said, and that still leaves a whopping debt - including three months' rent that the Fern Ridge School District agreed to defer - to pay off.

"A brief summary, to go over it: we need $45,000 tonight, basically," Wright told the crowd of at least 40 at the outset.

In dialogue between board members, school officials and audience members, several parents pledged their own money to keep the school open. Becky Harwood of Junction City, whose son, Patrick, is an eighth-grader, walked up and handed Lay a check for $100. She said she's seen a "transformation" in Patrick since enrolling him last spring, that he is thriving thanks to the school's caring teachers, structure and emphasis on leadership, teamwork and physical activity.

"I think you're going to have faith that we can pull it out," she told the board.

But Harwood wanted more than another temporary stay. She and other parents wanted an ironclad guarantee that the school will stay open for the remainder of the year, and they didn't get one.

"We have hope - we're not hearing it (from you)," parent Terri Parris told the board.

Steven Arbuckle, an administrator and teacher at the school, gave high praise to his colleagues and said the benefits students gain from the academy will outlast any financial crisis.

"Defeat's not in my dictionary," he said, his voice booming. "I'll do everything I can to keep it open, to teach your children."

After rousing applause, Wright called for a break, disappearing into a back room with fellow board members and school officials for a discussion he said he only later learned was a violation of Oregon Public Meetings Law. They emerged 15 minutes later, ready to vote to extend the deadline for a closure vote to Jan. 27. When parents said only a commitment to keeping it open could save the school, the board agreed to table further discussion and took no vote.

The academy, which moved to Veneta from Eugene in 2003, has "risen from the ashes" before, Lay noted. Formerly known as the Pioneer Youth Corps Military Academy, the school was previously a private alternative program, which accepted students - most of them at-risk - by referral through contracts with districts. It successfully sought charter school status in 1999, which allows it to accept students without a district referral. In 2003, the Eugene School Board turned down its bid for charter renewal, citing concerns over fiscal management and curriculum.

Briefly without a home, PYCO approached Fern Ridge and found it willing to sponsor the school and lease the old Central Elementary School building. While that relationship has been smooth, the school has struggled to make ends meet for the past two years.