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History of Liberty Common School

History of Liberty Common School

The History of Liberty Common School

By: Dr. Maureen Schaffer

Liberty Common Elementary School first opened its doors in September of 1997, but the story of The Liberty Common School dates back much further.
 
In the early 1990s, true educational choice was non-existent in Poudre School District. Parents without resources for private school sent their children to neighborhood schools. Nebulous curricula were largely determined by individual classroom teachers, leading to gaps and repetition in student learning. Dissatisfied, small groups of parents began to read, research, and meet throughout PSD in search of better options.
 
One young couple, with a seemingly insatiable interest in education issues, emerged with a solution. After months of research, Dr. Randy Everett and his wife, Ruth Ann, identified several fundamental elements they believed most parents desired in their children’s schooling:
 
  • Parental choice in education
  • A core curriculum of specific content knowledge
  • Solid, content-driven skill instruction
  • Teaching the values of a democratic society
  • School-based management       
 
Randy and Ruth Ann took their message on the road, placing advertisements in the local paper, and speaking in living rooms and meeting halls throughout the county. Soon, hundreds of parents had joined the cause.

In the spring of 1993, Dr. Everett submitted a proposal to the PSD Board of Education to establish an Elementary School-of-Choice organized around the Core Knowledge Sequence. The educational community fought the proposal with gusto. District teachers testified before the school board, pronouncing the Core Knowledge Sequence too difficult to teach or learn. In spite of this strong opposition, the school board approved the request, and the Washington Core Knowledge School opened with 125 students that fall. This progressive episode in PSD’s history is documented on pages 62-63 of The Schools We Need by E.D. Hirsch.

Washington Core Knowledge School flourished. Parents painted the run-down school building and gathered curriculum resources. Courageous teachers joined the team, and students began to outperform their peers at neighborhood schools. In two years, enrollment had nearly doubled, and the waiting list numbered in the hundreds.

To meet this high demand, the school board allowed Washington Core to further increase enrollment and move into a portion of the old Fort Collins High School building. In a monumental construction effort led by parent volunteer Carol Christ, the high school building was converted to an elementary school over the summer of 1995. Things were going well for Washington Core, or so it seemed.

The school district notified Washington Core that its two-year pilot program had ended. Faculty would now be determined by the district, rather than the school’s parent board. Sadly, the district immediately fired two teachers, replacing them with “tenured excess” teachers from within PSD.

The founding parents were dismayed. How could the school retain its integrity if PSD brought in teachers who were not committed to the school’s curriculum? Fortunately, the Colorado legislature had provided an answer – the Charter Schools Act.

The huge demand for the educational program offered at Washington Core Knowledge School prompted the school’s founders to begin drafting an application for a Core Knowledge charter school, under the newly passed Colorado Charter Schools Act. By the summer of 1995, unresolved issues about the permanence of Washington Core and the authority of the parent board over the academic program spurred a full-scale charter effort.

Meeting after work and on weekends, parents meticulously defined and documented the charter school’s mission, goals, curriculum, governance, budget, facility plan, employee relations, and more. On October 31, 1995, the Core Knowledge Charter School (CKCS) Partnership, the organization formed by founding parents for the purpose of establishing a new charter school, submitted its application to the PSD Board of Education.

Rather than proceed with negotiations, the PSD board requested more and more information, explanation, and detail.  The CKCS board, led by parent Chairman Phil Christ, diligently responded to each request, but to no avail. On December 11, the PSD board voted to deny the charter application without ever having met to negotiate with the parents.

Undaunted, the CKCS board appealed the decision to the Colorado State Board of Education. In February, the State Board sided with the parents and instructed the PSD board to negotiate an agreement in good faith with the charter group. Weeks of meetings ensued. 
 
It appeared the two sides were slowly coming together. However, in an eleventh-hour surprise, the PSD board suddenly voted to “approve” the charter with several major restrictions, not previously discussed: The charter would be limited to two years, enrollment would be capped at 300 students, and the school would be limited to a K-6 program, thereby eliminating the school’s innovative junior-high program. 
 
PSD further directed the charter school to find space in a non-district building and execute the charter contract with PSD no later than June 1. The constraints made it virtually impossible to open the school.   
 
Disappointed, the CKCS board filed a second appeal with the State Board of Education. In an apparent attempt to quash the charter school, PSD unleashed its attorney. A paper war erupted as the lawyer threw legal obstacles in the path of the charter school. The charter group managed to fend off the legal challenges and was finally granted a hearing before the State Board.
 
At the April 23 hearing, the final punch was landed when PSD announced it had filed suit against the State Board of Education and CKCS Board of Directors! Concerned the lawsuit could result in an injunction preventing the charter school from opening, the State Board recommended the charter group try to open a school with PSD’s restrictions. 
 

Dozens of outraged parents criticized the legal shenanigans at the next PSD board meeting. PSD director Bob Bacon (who subsequently was elected a Colorado State Senator) denied the district had sued parents and accused charter supporters of promulgating a big lie.[1] But PSD President Mike Liggett, an attorney, confirmed the lawsuit had indeed named five parents – Phil Christ, Randy Everett, Timothy Gilmore, Cheryl Olsen, and Maureen Schaffer – as defendants. 

 
The clock was ticking down to the June 1st deadline. Charter parent Mr. Peter Kast, a commercial realtor, conducted yet another survey of potential properties to accommodate the PSD-imposed school configuration. A near match was identified.  However, two adjustments to the restrictions would be necessary:
  • Increase the charter length to five years to amortize building improvements.
  • Increase the enrollment cap to 364 students to meet the annual lease and maintenance obligations.
The charter group entreated PSD to consider adjusting the restrictions. The PSD board refused to consider the request. “The Board of Education will not take any further action,” came the response in a May 3rd letter to the CKCS board.
 
The June 1 contract deadline expired, and PSD dropped its lawsuit against the parents. The clock had run out. There would be no charter school in 1996.
 
It was June of 1996. Advocates for the Core Knowledge Charter School had come up short after being legally out-maneuvered by the school district. The parents faced a $5,000 debt for legal filings and newsletters to its growing list of supporters.
 
The unsinkable charter group wasted no time mobilizing its next charter effort. It “passed the hat” yet again, this time requesting additional donations to hire a lawyer of its own. 
The parents contacted local attorney Mr. Mike Maxwell to assist in rewriting and negotiating their charter. Maxwell was immediately captivated by the critical nature of the school choice movement. He and his partners donated their time and expertise to the cause.
 
The name of the new school would be Liberty Common. Why? At a common school, students of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds could obtain a common education.  But, why Liberty? Liberty stood for parents who would now have educational choice. Liberty stood for teachers who would no longer have to work in a broken system. And most importantly, Liberty would symbolize the true freedom that can only be achieved when a student possesses an educated mind.
 
On October 1, 1996, the charter application for Liberty Common School was submitted to PSD, along with a file drawer of supporting documents, reports, and studies. The new charter provided in-depth rationale for each aspect of the school the parents deemed non-negotiable. Still, negotiations dragged on for months. Finally, PSD approved the charter, and a five-year contract was signed on February 24, 1997.  Now, the real work would begin.
 
The charter group scrambled to simultaneously find a building and hire staff. Teams of parents conducted interviews at the offices of Dr. Randy Everett’s urology practice. (Applicants were quite relieved to learn physical exams were not part of the drill). 
 
Although there was still no school building, one courageous administrator, Dr. Kathryn Knox, took a gamble and signed on as Liberty’s first headmaster. She quickly melded with the team and donated dozens of hours interviewing potential teachers.  
 
A powerhouse staff with a pioneering spirit was assembled, including Dave Lunn and Cherie Pedersen who are all still cornerstones of Liberty today. The late Connie Behr, our former elementary school librarian, was also actively involved. Teachers joined forces with parents to identify curriculum resources and skills programs to augment the Core Knowledge Sequence.
 
Meanwhile, parent Peter Kast, worked fervently to pull together a suitable building and financing for the new school.  Pursuing multiple deals simultaneously, Peter never gave up as each financing option ultimately collapsed.  Would anyone lend money to this unknown entity called a charter school?
 
It was now summer and fall was fast approaching. A building was needed immediately if there was to be sufficient time for renovations. Peter assembled a small group of investors to purchase the Colgate factory near the detention center and lease the building to the charter school. The deal closed in late June.
 
The facility question was answered, but substantial reconstruction was necessary to convert the former toothpaste and mouthwash factory into a school. Thirteen Liberty families put up personal assets as collateral for the million-dollar construction loan. It was now July. 
 
Amazingly, due to the support of former PSD Board President David Neenan, his construction firm, the Neenan Company, completed the massive remodel in less than 60 days.
 
The concrete floors were bare, and the upstairs remained unfinished. A support column stood in the middle of the small gym. The performance hall, wood gym, art rooms, and track were non-existent. But none of that mattered.
 
In September 1997, a dream became a reality as Liberty Common School opened its doors to more than four hundred eager young students in kindergarten through seventh grade. And the rest, as they say, is history.
 

The History of Liberty Common High School

By: Mrs. Michelle Provaznik and Headmaster Bob Schaffer (Founding Parents)

In May of 2013, Liberty Common High School graduated its first senior class. This was the culmination of an epic effort started in 2008 when Liberty Board of Directors Chairman Craig Horton and Board Member Michelle Provaznik attended a charter-school conference in Denver. 
 
The information the pair gathered at the conference, along with general statewide excitement about the growing success of charter schools in Colorado, provided the impetus to explore expanding Liberty Common School to a full k-12 school. Also attending the same conference was LCS founding parent, Laurel Van Maren, who was on the Ridgeview Classical Schools Board of Directors at the time. The three discussed moving forward with a Liberty high school and began meeting for the purposes of laying out general plans for the school.
 
This was not the first time Liberty's parent leaders considered a high-school expansion. In fact, the idea had been pondered twice before but failed to garner enough support from the Board of Directors or administration due to a variety of issues including financial feasibility. 
 
In 2008, things were different. Liberty Common School's kindergarten through ninth-grade program had been awarded numerous state and national commendations for academic achievement. The school's students consistently earned top academic-performance scores in the Poudre School District and across Colorado. The school had achieved national "Blue Ribbon" status and was regarded as a premier nationwide example of excellence by the Virginia-based Core Knowledge Foundation.
 
Liberty's reputation as a nationally-known, top-performing school naturally attracted the attention of new parents throughout the region. Enrollment had swelled to 581 students in grades k-9. The school was more than completely full. The number of families on the lottery list waiting to enroll their children at Liberty numbered well over fifteen-hundred.
 
That year, the Board of the Poudre School District voted to change the grade configuration for neighborhood junior high and high schools throughout the district. Where the district's high schools previously consisted of grades 10–12, PSD’s high schools would now expand to include ninth graders. 
 
The change in the district's configuration would apply direct competitive pressure on Liberty's ninth grade. The writing was on the wall: Liberty either needed to expand to include a high school or watch its ninth grade wither on the vine. 
 
Horton and Provaznik, with the support of Van Maren, presented their high-school ideas to their colleagues on the Liberty Board of Directors. Though the initial response was lukewarm, the Board formed a committee to explore and evaluate the feasibility of expanding the school through twelfth grade. Horton was selected to chair the Expansion Committee.
 
The Committee's first step involved holding a community meeting. In October of 2008, a notice went out to all parents about the idea of creating a high school. Over 80 people attended the meeting. 
 
Not only were parents of Liberty students interested in the formation of a high school, but prospective Liberty parents were also interested in the addition of more K-8 classrooms (one additional classroom per grade) in the hopes their children might be called from the extensive lottery list to fill new slots (30 new students per grade) that would be created.
 
The goal of the Expansion Committee was to create a comprehensive business plan to prove the feasibility of the whole-school expansion. Seven subcommittees were formed, involving over fifty parent volunteers. The subcommittees were chaired by the following parents: 
  • Athletics: Dan Knab
  • Character Education: Mark Sutherlin and Kendra Mosely
  • Curriculum: Michelle Provaznik
  • Facilities: Tricia Diehl and Peter Kast
  • Finance: Dan Provaznik
  • Marketing/Enrollment: Melanie Seilbach
  • Scheduling: Angela Horton and Krissy Kopren
The subcommittee’s efforts centered on creating a high school from the ground up. At the time, there was no blueprint or instructions to refer to, so the committees performed extensive research to develop curriculum, sports programs, campus policies, facilities, etc. The highest goal was to avoid any compromise of Liberty Common School's core mission—teaching the kids already in its system.

Tim Ricketts, former business manager of Liberty Common Schools, worked with the BOD to find complicated financial solutions that allowed the high school to become a reality.  
 
Another public meeting was held on January 6, 2009 to gauge community interest. Many parents were interested in the expansion and signed their students up for the waiting list. Several members of the Poudre School District (PSD) Board of Directors also attended the meeting. Their initial reaction seemed supportive. That mattered. If the expansion was to occur, PSD's approval would be required.
 
Ultimately, at a meeting of the Liberty Board of Directors, administration, and parents on February 5, 2009, the Expansion Committee recommended Liberty expand and add a high school. The Committee's presentation showed that not only was the expansion feasible, but that Liberty would, in fact, be in financial jeopardy if the ninth grade was lost at the hands of PSD’s plans for grade reconfiguration. 
 
With very conservative enrollment estimates, the findings showed that expansion of grades 9-12, simultaneously with the addition of a third track of k-8 was not only possible, but would allow Liberty to thrive. The Expansion Committee was thrilled to have founders Dr. Randy Everett and Dr. Maureen Schaffer speak in favor of the expansion. 
On February 19, 2009, Liberty's Board petitioned the Poudre School District to amend Liberty's Charter and to add a third track of k-6th grade, to also add a tenth grade, and to phase in an eleventh and twelfth grade in subsequent years.
 
A resolution adopted by the Liberty Board of Directors said it all: "The purpose of completing our high-school program is to offer high-school education that is college preparatory in nature, specifically builds on the Core Knowledge Curriculum, effectively continues to foster the reading, writing, mathematical and thinking skills particular to Liberty's current offering, continues the Liberty approach to character education, is small in size, extends the economics, history, science and mathematics foundation that Liberty has established, and makes use of learning opportunities inherent in the thinking framework currently employed at Liberty."
 
Many exchanges and meetings between the district and Liberty ensued. Craig Horton, Michelle Provaznik, and John Rohrbaugh were asked to present the case for the Liberty expansion at a PSD Board meeting.  Ultimately, the PSD Board agreed to pursue negotiations with a vote of 6-1. Final negotiations proceeded.
In August of 2009, Liberty received a letter from PSD's Board president Larry Neal indicating the district was pleased to move forward on an addendum to the Charter allowing the expansion and the new high school to go forward.
 
Even though the district had formally approved the expansion, implementing it was hardly a foregone conclusion. An acute economic recession had stricken the nation and hit Colorado's School Finance Act pretty hard. All public schools in the state were notified there would be a punishing rescission of previously allocated state funds - funds upon which Liberty was counting. Furthermore, it was announced the state would reduce spending for the next year on the order of 6% or more.  
 
Tim Ricketts, Liberty's former business manager was asked to run multiple versions of financial scenarios anticipating every conceivable budget situation. The Board had to make a serious decision involving a long-term financial commitment amid the funding rescission, the budget reduction, and a precarious economy.
 
The central question was obvious: Now that Liberty has the authorization to expand, can it afford to actually do it given the dire financial situation and the volatile economy at hand? 
 
Convinced there is no greater priority than the education of their children and buoyed by the strong support for a high school among the Liberty parent population, the Board decided to go forward with the plan. Though optimistic, the Board instructed the administration to build a high school while pinching every penny in order to make the finances work. Salaries for all Liberty personnel were frozen until further notice.
 
Peter Kast, who negotiated and secured Liberty's flagship elementary-school building, answered the school's newest call for help in finding a suitable building; and the search for a new high school facility was on. 

What shall the high school be called? After convening student-focus groups and consulting the parent population, it was decided to stick with a brand name that carried with it a nationwide reputation for academic excellence: Liberty Common High School.
 
The school would offer a classical, liberal-arts curriculum building upon the Core Knowledge Sequence and it would accentuate math, science, and engineering. Committees of parents were convened to further develop the curriculum and the course schedules.
 
Director of the Elementary School Casey Churchill organized the move from LCS to LCHS and the expansion at LCS. It was an enormous undertaking of brilliant coordination.  

Public meetings were held to describe the school, its goals, and plans. Administrators described the kinds of teachers they would hire, and who from the current school would go to the high-school building. A relaxed high-school Dress Code was developed and elated ninth graders were allowed to try it out for their second semester at the old Liberty Elementary School.
 
The House System was developed. Eighth and ninth graders committed to attending LCHS were assigned to one of three Houses: Domus Scientiae, Domus Virtutis or Domus Prudentiae. They began working on House projects such as House crests, logos, mottos, and events.
 
Still, one question loomed over all of these discussions and activities: Where would the new high school be located? Hopes for a high-school property adjacent to the current school were fading. Visions of a single Liberty campus were becoming dim. All options considered turned into dead ends. The school was now well into 2010 – the year the high school was scheduled to open, but there was no building in hand.
 
One mile south of the elementary school stood a building that had been occupied by a defunct charter high school for a few years and had been abandoned for a few more years since. Would that building work?
 
Peter Kast approached the building's owners, and obtained a key allowing the Board to wander through the dusty vacant facility. After the walkthrough, the Board huddled in the parking lot looking upon the abandoned school as the winter sun set over its roof. The group began mulling numbers and options. If the price came down, with some remodeling, and with additional classroom expansion over a few more years, this location could work. The Board decided to pursue the building at 2745 Minnesota Drive, and to continue searching for other options. 
 
It quickly became apparent the poor economy looming over Liberty’s expansion was simultaneously working to the school’s advantage as a buyer in the real estate market. The price of the building was, by the month, dropping further below its original asking price. With the help of an investment corporation FCCS, LLC, headed up by local developer and charter-school backer Troy McWhinney, a solution materialized allowing Liberty Common School to lease the building and purchase it a few years later.
Tenancy stretched Liberty’s budget to its limit, but the numbers added up – barely. With solid enrollment and aggressive fundraising, the Board believed it could make ends meet.
 
A Letter of Intent was signed in February 2010. Once an agreement was finalized, the landlord opened the building right away so parents could take a tour. From that moment, excitement punctuated all the work and countless hours required to get the building ready to open by August 18th of 2010.

Teachers needed to be hired. After attending numerous job fairs and accepting applications from around the world, a first-rate team of LCHS educators was assembled.
The high school’s roster of inaugural instructors was announced: Jared Dybzinski, Dr. Charles Hubbeling, Dawn Karr, Marques Kem, William Kranz, Kay Lannen, Jerry Lavin, Torgun Lovely, Duane Staton, Dr. Barbara Werner, Ken Vetter, Sarah Aguilar-Francis, Megan Ellis, Connie Logsdon, Dave Lunn, Janice Garland, Susan Porter, Donny Reeves, Wade Torgeson and Erin Voorhies.  
 
The Chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education, former U.S. Congressman, former State Senator, and founding Liberty parent Bob Schaffer, who had been hired as project manager for the high-school expansion, was named Director of Secondary Schools. Along with Liberty’s headmaster, the school’s new administration would direct the opening and operation of Liberty Common High School. (In 2011, Schaffer was named LCHS principal, and in 2018 Liberty's headmaster).

Architects and contractors worked feverishly throughout the summer remodeling the building. The administration shopped at auctions for used school furnishings and equipment.
 
Director of Elementary Education (later named principal) Casey Churchill orchestrated “the big move.” Classroom supplies and furniture were boxed up, labeled, and carted off to the new school. 
 
LCHS opened under the guidance of Director of Secondary Schools Bob Schaffer, who was soon after named high-school principal by the Liberty Board of Directors.  
Hordes of volunteers showed up (on what always turned out to be the hottest summer days) to unload trucks and set up classrooms. New lockers were ordered and would eventually line the empty hallways (The lockers did not arrive until two months into the school year. There was no carpet in the school until the second semester).
New lunchroom tables were ordered, too. There was no turning back now. LCHS would open on time with its leading class of 10th graders. In three years, these pioneering students would become Liberty's first graduating class— the inaugural Class of 2013.
 
The night before LCHS was set to open, students grades 7–10 came together at Liberty Elementary School for the last time. Elementary Principal Churchill made remarks encouraging the excited students assembled there, and then lit a ceremonial lantern that was carried by student leaders at the head of a 2.2-mile-long procession along the Poudre River then West up to the high ground upon which Liberty Common High School sits.
 
The lantern carried the flame of Liberty's first "Torch Trek." The traditional event has been reenacted by Liberty students each year since.