Providing a quality education to at-risk students often requires multiple resources. One-on-one teacher instruction, access to current technology and customized lesson plans for students with special needs are just a few of the tools necessary to help children from underserved communities reach their potential. This formula has lead to success for Skyline Education, a charter management organization in Arizona.
The multi-disciplined approach to education that Skyline’s six campuses provides “comes at a fairly high up-front expense,” says KJ Weihing, vice president of finance at Skyline Education. “We wanted to make purchases but didn’t have the up-front funding. That’s why we called Charter School Capital; they helped us get that short-term funding.”
Skyline opened its first campus in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2009 that organization began to experience rapid growth, adding five new campuses from 2009 to 2012. Skyline now serves more than 1,000 students in socially and economically diverse communities, including the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona.
Such dramatic growth created a real need to access working capital funding, explains Weihing. Skyline Education knew that it would be receiving its funding, but given the uncertain payment schedule from the State of Arizona, they didn’t know when. Skyline administrators knew they needed some form of help to even out their budget throughout the year but were very wary of outside funders until they met Charter School Capital.
“I was impressed with them and their fee structure,” says Weihing. “A lot of times there are organizations that will lend for high interest because they know you can’t get funds anywhere else. Charter School Capital’s fee structure was not outrageous [like that].”
The relationship Skyline has developed with the Charter School Capital team is rooted in much more than just financial terms. Weihing would recommend to any charter school needing funds to start-up or for growth, that they just “start the process,” stating that the two organizations have formed a real partnership dedicated to the success of all Skyline Education’s schools.
“Last year, we wanted to make new computer purchases for one of our schools, but we didn’t have the current funding on hand to make that happen. So we worked with Charter School Capital to provide us with the funding in order to get those computers into the classroom sooner than we would have been able to if we were waiting on funding,” concludes Weihing. The whole process has been “extremely seamless, quick and easy; I’m glad we did it.”
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