During a moment of silence at the opening of the Jan. 16 Northwestern Lehigh School Board meeting President Darryl Schafer asked people to keep the families of Sandy Hook in mind. He also read a statement in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

The proposed charter school resolution for the Circle of Seasons school was discussed.

The subject had attracted an overflow crowd to the meeting both from Northwestern and other interested districts.

The charter was denied in its first presentation. The school may have gone to the state for approval but chose to meet the conditions the school was dissatisfied with.

One possible question remains. No lease or intent to purchase the former Penn State property in Weisenberg Township has been provided.

School representatives wants to have the charter school open for the 2013-14 school year and that item must be provided or another location within the school district must be approved by the board before that opening date. If it is not provided, there is no charter.

Board member LeRoy Sorensen told how important charter schools are to him personally as he has in previous discussions.

He attended Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, the former vo-tech, and that led to a successful career for him.

Sorensen said he did not fit the traditional system of education.

He said he has been hearing if people don't fit into the public school system they will not succeed.

"[But] I don't want you to live my plan for life," Sorensen said. "I want it to be yours."

He was cheered by the audience.

Schafer said charter education is the greatest experiment in our country and optimism is always our goal.

He said, according to Bill Gates, education has to be done differently. He hoped with this action they were.

Bill Dellicker, board member, said he wanted to say why he will vote for something he doesn't approve of.

He doesn't approve because the charter school is controlled by the state government and is another unfunded mandate.

"If we disapprove, the state will approve the charter while putting the burden of responsibility on the district administration time and resources," he said.

He would like the children who attend the charter school for three grades to return to Northwestern ready to be successful in fourth grade.

Superintendent Mary Anne Wright said the charter school wants to eventually have classes through eighth grade. The present charter is for grades one to three.

"We owe it to our kids to provide all options," Board member Joe Reiter said.

The charter approval that followed led to cheers from the audience.

Northwestern teacher Brian Anthony has applied to be on the board of directors for the Circle of Seasons School.