Mike Miles, former superintendent of Dallas public schools and former superintendent of a Colorado district, was turned down by the Colorado Springs school board when he applied to open a charter school in a former Macy’s department store in a large shopping mall.
Miles led the Dallas district for three tumultuous years, during which time there was a sizable teacher exodus and stagnant test scores, which he had pledged to raise. Miles is a military man who attended the unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy.
“The district’s board rejected Miles’ 210-page proposal 6-1 on Wednesday night and relinquished charter authorization, which means Miles will need to petition the Colorado Charter School Institute, a state authorizer, for approval to open in the fall of 2019…
“District administrators and members of the District Accountability Committee raised numerous concerns about the proposal at a Nov. 14 board meeting, including the governance model, finances, not providing transportation for students and the location being in close proximity to marijuana dispensaries and alcohol outlets such as a Hooters restaurant.
“It would be in both of our respective interests” for D-11 to relinquish exclusive chartering authority and permit organizers to apply to CSI, D-11 Superintendent Michael Thomas said.
“I believe the conditional requirements and expectations that would need to be addressed would not be able to be done in a timely fashion,” he said Wednesday, in issuing a recommendation to deny the application.
“Miles agreed to the relinquishment, Thomas said.
“Board member Teresa Null cast the sole opposing vote, saying sending organizers to the state authorizing body won’t remove the concerns of D-11 representatives who reviewed and analyzed the application.
“We do not think this charter school can be ready for our students by next year, and going to CSI is not going to change that dynamic — they’re still not going to be ready,” Null said.
“Among her personal concerns: “They want to put a playground in a parking lot.”
“Coperni 3 would be the second school in a charter school network Miles is building under the name Third Future Schools. The first school in the network, Academy of Advanced Learning, opened in the fall of 2017 in Aurora, as part of Aurora Public Schools.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I was visiting my daughter that lives near Houston last week. I was driving on the south Loop when I saw a gigantic windowless building that I know used to be a fruit and vegetable distributorship. It is now a “Yes Prep.” It is amazing what uninspiring buildings are being used for schools. This building was designed for cold storage, and now it’s a windowless school. How sad!
so many buildings in this charter-school game demanding RENT from public school funding — revamping at great cost, opening and then in a year or two closing…
“Among her personal concerns: “They want to put a playground in a parking lot.”
And the mall owner/landlord is okay with this??? I don’t know about Colorado, but around here mall parking lots fill to overflow, especially between Thanksgiving and Christmas (even though our mall too has a vacant former Macy’s). I can’t imagine the mall owner being willing to give up prime parking spaces for a playground.
Our young are being treated like CANNED GOODS in a FACTORY. Good GRIEF.
Guess this is ONE way to DEVELOP ‘grit’ … a stupid new term to treat kids badly.
It was the THIRD school in the network. It opened fully on August 1, 2019. The parking lot in question is never full because it was part of the Macy’s building that was vacant. The students grew more than 1.5 years by Christmas. I know this because I was a teacher there. I resigned at the end of the year due to personal reasons, but the teachers are fantastic! It was the first school in my 17-year career that had ZERO drama among the entire staff. The students learned and were well cared for, better than any school I have ever worked for.