The Colorado Board of Education has accepted a petition from charter school Merit Academy for a declaratory order regarding the timing of per-pupil payments from its chartering district, Woodland Park District RE-2 and will schedule a hearing on the matter.

The board reviewed a petition for declaratory judgment filed by Merit Academy against the district over how it now receives funding during its meeting on Sept. 10.

The petition comes after the charter school was informed it would receive its monthly disbursements “as the corresponding revenues are received by the District” throughout the current fiscal year in a June 3 letter from RE-2 Superintendent Ginger Slocum. Total funds currently vary from month to month.

Administrative costs, along with other services, are deducted on a monthly basis over the fiscal year, per the letter.

With the order, Merit Academy requests that the state board find that the district must pay the school its per-pupil revenue in equal monthly installments and afford all other just and proper relief.

The decision comes amid cash flow disruptions caused by a delay in receiving local tax revenue during the spring months of the school year. This local revenue accounts for about two-thirds of the district’s total revenue, the charter school notes in its petition.

Assistant State Attorney General Joe Peters told the board that the declaratory order procedure was uncommon, but not unheard of with school districts and charter schools. Board member Steve Durham, whose congressional district encompasses Colorado Springs, said that he knew many families whose children attend Merit and that it has developed a reputation as a high-performing school with growing enrollment.

Upon learning that this type of fund disbursement was unique to Merit, he felt compelled to continue the process, calling it “a one-district problem.”

“I think we ought to accept this appeal because I think time is of the essence and I think the conduct of the district in this instance, being it’s the only district with charter schools that treats its charter this way, is unacceptable ”