Animas High School eliminates position
Move aims to keep school financially viable
By Dale Rodebaugh Herald staff writer
In an administrative shake-up, Animas High School has eliminated the recently created position of executive director in favor of a principal and an assistant principal.
“The structure will streamline operations and help ensure continued financial viability,” the school said in a statement.
In an email, school board president Melissa Youssef said that eliminating the job of Michael Ackerman “is shifting of resources to best meet the evolving needs of the school going forward.”
Ackerman oversaw moving the campus from buildings on Main Avenue near 32nd Street to Twin Buttes, fundraising and the application for a grant from the state to pay for facilities.
Ackerman will remain on the job until the end of the school year.
Animas High School, founded in 2009, graduated its first students in 2013. The campus also moved that year to Twin Buttes.
Youssef also said in an email that Animas High is interested in discussing collaboration, partnerships and mergers with Mountain Middle School, another alternative center of education, and Durango High School.
“As a board, we recognize the need and desire to continue to offer choice in education, with our charter schools being separate and independent entities,” Youssef said.
“The issue of autonomy is paramount to all of our discussions,” she said. “However, we also recognize that if we can collectively outline a scenario in which we can share resources, collaborate and partner in the best interest of education, then it is worth exploring opportunities to see if we can increase success of the whole.”
In a newsletter to parents, Mountain Middle School says it is looking to expand, noting that the school charter allows it to “grow down” to include kindergartners to fifth-graders.
“It has always been desired by MMS that we would look to merge with Animas High School in time for our reauthorization in 2016,” the newsletter says. “This spring our boards will begin the research and discussion regarding best practices for a governance model and shared budget for the merged organization.”
