HOPKINTON/BOW – For nearly three years of work by Bow, Hopkinton and Kearsarge Regional school district superintendents, the Crossroads Learning Community Charter School in Contoocook was awarded official charter status.

Though the school was recognized by the New Hampshire Board of Education in December, a problem receiving grant money from the state will prevent the school from its expected opening in January.

Jan Williamson, the agency supervisor for NFI North, the organization running the school, said she hopes the charter school can still open this fall when school reconvenes.

“The grant was larger than we thought in terms of the application and filling that out,” Williamson said. “As far as how much money we’ll receive in terms of the budget, we will need outside funding and determine where we are going to go with this.”

The problem is not exclusive to the Contoocook charter school, however. New Hampshire’s federal grant for charter schools runs out in June and, Williamson said, the state cannot reapply until October, potentially leaving all Granite State charter schools to figure out their own funding for several months.

“We just want to make sure when we get into this we have our budget figures and our money in order, and make sure we are going in the right direction before we move forward,” she said. “We’re in the process of applying for the charter grant money from the state and we’ll be meeting with superintendents from the three school districts next week to determine funding.”

Moreover, Thomas Brennan, superintendent of the Kearsarge Regional School District, said he will meet with the commissioner of the New Hampshire Board Board of Education for clarification on the state’s fiscal obligation.

Still, the school, which may still open in the fall, received its charter at a New Hampshire Department of Education meeting in December, when Chairman David Ruedig also awarded charters to the New Hampshire Equestrian Academy Charter School in Rochester and Surry Village Charter School in Surry – bringing the state total to 12 charter schools.

A press release from the New Hampshire Center for School Reform describes the new charters as “... creating examples of entrepreneurial schools that provide new opportunities for New Hampshire public school students and planning budgets at 40 percent less than the statewide average.”

The plan is for Crossroads Learning Community Charter School to enroll up to 20 students from the three school districts the first year and work its way to 40 students the fifth year. Those enrolled will come from grades 7 through 12. The curriculum is intended for students that “the current system cannot reach, despite best efforts,” and will design individualized learning programs for students.

“I believe that for many years we, as superintendents and school districts throughout the state, have struggled with identifying where students who struggle in school can go – kids who are dropping out or who aren’t engaged in a typical school setting – we want somewhere for these students to go,” said Brennan.

Unlike other charter schools, the new Contoocook facility will attempt to close the gap and maintain communication between the charter school and the homeschool, and allow students to go back to their schools in some cases with someone from the charter school shadowing them.

Moreover, the charter school will also offer a professional development curriculum for teacher from the Bow, Hopkinton and Kearsarge school districts to receive training on working with different types of students.

More information on New Hampshire charter schools, can be obtained from www.nhschool reform.org.