TWIN FALLS - For the second time in less than a year a charter school has proposed to open in Twin Falls, and once again the school district has decided to separate itself from that charter school.

The Twin Falls School Board decided Wednesday night to refer a second proposed charter school to the Idaho State Charter School Commission. Based on recommendations by the superintendent and legal advice from several groups, the board felt it was in the district's best interest to separate itself from the charter school.

The Southern Idaho Learning Center (SILC) Lab School petitioned the school board last month for permission to open a charter school that would serve the sixth through eighth grades. According to the petition, the charter school proposes to offer remedial intervention, specialized curriculums and 'executive' skills development in order to prepare students for college.

The charter school proposes to begin its first year with 33 students in the sixth grade, and then to increase enrollment to 100 students in the sixth through eighth grade by its third year.

If approved by the commission, the SILC Lab School will be the second charter school in Twin Falls to operate independently of the school district.

Last year, the Twin Falls School Board referred the Xavier Charter School to the commission. Xavier will begin operation this fall.

Wiley Dobbs, superintendent of the Twin Falls School District, said incorporating the charter school into the district would create additional demands on the district's already limited resources. He also wrote in a recommendation to the school board that the commission has the staff and resources to assist the charter school.

SILC Lab School will send its petition to the charter school commission, which will review the petition before it either approves or rejects the charter school's request.

Times-News writer Joshua Palmer covers education. He can be reached at jpalmer@magicvalley.com or at (208) 420-0526.