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Dozens of community members attended a public hearing for The Language Academy, a proposed charter school that was prompted after the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board suspended a language immersion program.More than a dozen community members urged the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board to approve a proposed language immersion charter school.
About 50 joined Superintendent Bill Rhoades and board members — including Cheri Zimmerman, on speakerphone — Monday at Wilsonville High School to hear the proposal and public testimony for The Language Academy, a proposed K-8 charter school now scheduled to open in 2012. 
Charter schools are public schools that are often run by outside groups, and the vote for approval or denial of the Language Academy is scheduled for August 1.  If the group is denied, they can re-submit the application. Another denial could lead The Language Academy to seek state sponsorship.
The meeting comes one year after a contentious weeks-long process that ultimately saw the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board suspend a popular Spanish language immersion program after initially voting to save it. The move came after district officials issued a report with concerns about financial sustainability and equity, angering parents who had made a commitment to a K-5 program.
Language Academy Board Member Lori Beight, who was the lone dissenter on the board that denied the immersion program’s expansion before she left the board later that summer, spoke on Monday about the enhanced cognitive skills that would accompany  the school.
It creates flexibility, attention, a better memory, Beight said.
Others referenced studies that suggested dual language immersion programs helped close the achievement gap.
The Language Academy has a fervent support base that includes the district’s two local state representatives, Julie Parrish (R-West Linn) and Matt Wingard (R-Wilsonville), both of whom pushed the board to approve the school Monday. The two are strong supporters of charter schools. Wingard, who counts Oregon Connections Academy, one of the biggest online charters in the state, as a client in his public relations consulting firm, introduced a number of charter-related bills in the legislature this year that Parrish backed.
The hearing also attracted multiple parents with children who don’t currently attend the district, but who said they would consider a transfer with an approved language immersion charter school. One Tualatin parent, Dee Putnam, seemed sure the Language Academy could reach its goals despite hardships.
Weve lived this one room schoohouse version with the teacher whos also the administrator, said Putnam, whose daughter currently attends a similar language immersion charter school in Beaverton, Arco Iris. And it works.
Others, including a new Lake Oswego transplant and two with children who took part in Lake Oswego’s own language immersion program, insisted parents were “clamoring” to get into such classes.
Yet even with the unbridled enthusiasm from those who testified, the Language Academy’s application process has not escaped slip-ups: the original proposed start date of September 2011 was rendered impossible after the board discovered they needed additional permits — a process that will take several months and several thousands dollars.

Beight essentially said the plan had been pushed back a year because of the building issues.
Board members also had many questions, some of which district administrators had suggested they ponder. One wondered how the school expected to attract high-quality candidates when they were offering a lower salary than the average West Linn-Wilsonville teacher, and how they expected some of their positions — such as a teaching administrator — to carry the burden of both teaching and running a fledgling school.
Chair Dale Hoogestraat said the board had a way to go before making any decisions.
“We were here to listen tonight,” Hoogestraat said. “We’re not in the evaluation stage yet.”
Check back tomorrow morning for additional updates.
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