Contract negotiations between the New American Schools Development Corporation and individual design teams finally came to a close last week, when the board signed a contract with the Audrey Cohen College for Human Services.
Concerns over intellectual-property rights had extended a number of contract negotiations into the fall, well beyond the original starting date for the projects. (See Education Week, Oct. 28, 1992.)
The Phase 1 contracts range in size from $992,775 to $2.72 million.
Each of the design teams has also turned in its first work products to the nonprofit corporation. According to Paige Cassidy, a spokeswoman for the group, in most instances these include a final curriculum design, a revised budget and strategy for testing and implementing the design, and a proposed set of standards and assessment tools.
By July, the teams are expected to supply îáóäã with a draft of their budget for Phase 3, which is to help other communities adapt their blueprint.
They must also have final partnership agreements signed with the communities in which the designs will initially be implemented, including any waivers of federal, state, or local regulations that have been obtained.
The NASDC board is scheduled to meet in June to approve plans for moving ahead with Phase 2 of the designs, which would involve their actual implementation.
The corporation’s fundraising efforts remain stalled at just over $50 million, but Ms. Cassidy said the group is “actively pursuing’’ additional resources.
The contract amounts are: $2.72 million for the ATLAS Communities; $1.5 million for the Audrey Cohen College for Human Services; $1.25 million for the Bensenville Community Design; $997,000 for Community Learning Centers; $2.33 million for the CO-NECT School Partnership; $1.92 million for Expeditionary Learning; $2.2 million for the Los Angeles Educational Partnership; $1.84 million for the Modern Red Schoolhouse; $2.5 million for the National Alliance for Restructuring Education; $2.12 million for the Odyssey Project; and $992,775 for Roots and Wings.--L.O.
