Charter school will rent Teel

EMPIRE -- As Teel Middle School's Class of 2009 prepares to attend Johansen High School this fall, officials are finishing plans for the campus.

Empire Union School District trustees approved a lease agreement with Aspire Public Schools this month that details which classrooms and offices Aspire will rent for its Aspire College Preparatory Academy.

The charter school's organizers plan to start this fall with 250 students in sixth through ninth grades. Aspire's charter should be considered by the state Board of Education this summer.

Before reaching an agreement with the Empire district, Aspire's charter application was rejected by Modesto City Schools and the Stanislaus County Office of Education.

Aspire gets full control over the main classroom building, rooms 1 through 8, and rooms 35 and 36, and most of the administrative space, such as the principal's and assistant principal's offices, the staff lounge and the tech lab. The district and charter school will share bathroom space, cafeteria, gym, outdoor recreation space and library.

Monthly rent will be about $10,700, depending on enrollment. The lease starts July 1 and runs through June 2010. Aspire is responsible for most of the utilities and is contracting for a custodian, a media clerk and food services through the district, according to the 18-page agreement.

Empire Union officials are forming a K-8 program at Empire Elementary, next door to Teel Middle School. Seventh- and eighth-graders would have classes at Teel and share facilities with Aspire students.

This story was originally published June 12, 2009 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Charter school will rent Teel."