Bend’s Rimrock Academy, the region’s only charter school, might become an alternative middle school program within the Bend-La Pine School District once its charter expires in July, officials said Thursday.

Peter Miller, who oversees the district’s alternative schools and programs, said that he and school founder Mary Bryant started preliminary discussions in January about merging.

The change would mean the school’s 51 students would again become part of the district and the district would get the nearly $4,000 the state provides the school for each of those students.

That would mean a $204,000 infusion to the district’s budget for the 2003-04 school year, but that money would be spent on the new Rimrock program within the district. The details are far from worked out, but for the students the change probably wouldn’t mean much.

”It’s only been discussions – explorations and possibilities,” Miller said. ”It would be a continuation of what they’re doing now but under full jurisdiction of the district.”

Bend-La Pine Superintendent Doug Nelson said that from day one the district and school considered coming together at some time.

”When we approved Rimrock Academy, (Bryant) said that they didn’t want to run away from the district, but toward it,” he said. ”With the phasing out of her charter grant, this seems to be a good time to have that conversation to see what makes sense, if it makes sense and how we might bring Rimrock into the district as our alternative middle school program.”

Bryant said it’s very early in the discussions but the two sides are ”looking to see if there are any other circumstances that might work better for the school. We might recharter” and remain a charter school.

Bryant, a former middle school teacher, opened Rimrock to serve children who had behavioral or academic problems in traditional middle school settings.

It’s currently located in three portable classrooms on the Pilot Butte Middle School campus.

After months of discussion, the district approved the school’s charter application in February 2001. Rimrock opened its doors seven months later.

Charter schools are privately operated public schools free from most regulations traditional public schools must obey. They can vary from state-recommended guidelines to teach math, science and other subjects.

If proliferation is a sign of success, charter schools are the most successful form of school choice.

Since the first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992, more than 2,700 charter schools have opened and are operating in 36 states. The schools serve more than 684,000 students, according to the Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C.

Currently, 23 charter schools are operating in Oregon.

The schools must apply to the participating school district and the Oregon Department of Education.

Also, like traditional public school students, Rimrock students are expected to pass eighth-grade level benchmark tests by the end of their eighth-grade year.

But the program isn’t exactly like a traditional school.

To make the curriculum relevant, teachers put lessons into real-life settings. Students used math to make realistic household budgets for high school dropouts, high school graduates and career professionals.

The idea is that a hands-on approach keeps students engaged.

The school this year also started its Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound program. The program connects academic learning to outdoor activities, service, work and character development.

One of the goals of the school is to get students back into the general school district population.

Bend’s Marshall High School, an alternative high school for students who might succeed better in a different learning environment, is a natural high school extension for Rimrock students.

But Bryant said eighth-grade graduates last year have enrolled in all the district’s high schools.

In May 2002, Rimrock received its first evaluation from the district’s independent evaluator of alternative learning programs.

Laurie Le Duc told the school board that the school was succeeding as an alternative school in Bend, but it needed to enroll a ”less volatile” group of students to really reach its potential.

She is the school district’s independent evaluator of alternative schools and programs.

Le Duc said it appeared the school’s setting might not be the best placement for students who are aggressive and disruptive physically and verbally.

Rimrock expected some behavior problems from students because that’s one type of student the school wanted to help.

And, at the time, Bryant agreed with Le Duc’s assessment of the school.

Since Le Duc’s recommendations, Bryant said the school altered the selection process to make sure it was getting kids who best fit into the system.

The teachers at the school also participated in a national curriculum to learn a new approach to discipline.

Both Miller and Nelson said money is driving the discussions to merge with the district.

The school this year is operating with a roughly $350,000 budget – about $195,000 from the state and about $155,000 from state and federal grants.

The school pays the district rent for the portables and pays about 15 cents per meal to be part of the district’s nutrition services program.

By becoming part of the district, the school would get free access to bus service, food services and other district-funded programs.

Said Bryant: ”We’re trying to find the best way to serve these kids, and we will look in every direction that we can to make sure the education we provide these kids is the best we can.”

Nelson said the goal is not to eliminate the Rimrock program, but to add it to the district so that it can be supplemented and made even better with more services for students.

”Very clearly Rimrock fits a very important need to provide a program for a certain group of students,” he said, adding that ”for the students there, it has been successful.”

Ted Taylor can be reached at 541-383-0375 or ttaylor@bendbulletin.com.