School board trustees have a unique responsibility when it comes to decision-making. In addition to the fiduciary issues they must consider, they have a responsibility to weigh the best interests of children.

That extra measure of accountability should guide members of the East Allen County Schools board as they consider efforts to establish an Imagine charter school at the former Village Woods Middle School.

Any thoughtful discussion of the proposal should lead board members to reject the plan. Unsettling questions about the local Imagine board’s oversight, as well as issues concerning the board’s relationship with the for-profit Imagine Schools Inc., offer convincing proof that the charter organizers are not prepared to expand beyond the two schools they now operate in Fort Wayne.

Imagine Bridge Academy is proposed as a K-5 school at the former Village Woods School, which was closed in 2002 when EACS opened Prince Chapman Academy adjacent to Paul Harding High School. Don Willis, president of the Bridge Academy board, first tried to acquire Village Woods in 2006.

The EACS board voted to sell it to Ralph and Brenda White, operators of White’s School of the Arts. The agreement stipulated that if White wanted to sell the building, at 2700 E. Maple Grove, he must first give East Allen the right to buy it for $1 or refuse it.

At an Imagine board meeting last week, Willis said White had sent the EACS board a letter giving the members 30 days to respond. Ralph White wants to sell the building to Imagine.

The board is not scheduled to discuss the matter at its board meeting tonight, but Willis said he will attend it seeking a response. He told Imagine board members last week that residents in the Village Woods area want a neighborhood school, noting that EACS is coping with an “invasion of Burmese.”

Many of the Burmese refugees who have relocated to Fort Wayne under the auspices of Catholic Charities have settled in apartment complexes in southeast Fort Wayne, where students are divided mostly among Meadowbrook, Southwick and Village elementary schools.

Imagine board member Vince Robinson said the Village Woods site would be a great location for the charter school. But opening a school where one was closed is no guarantee that it offers a better alternative.

Imagine School officials and other charter supporters like to point to parent interest and satisfaction as proof of their effectiveness. They boast of surveys that show parents are pleased with the education their child is receiving. But parent satisfaction is a questionable barometer of educational quality. In criticizing their child’s school, a parent admits to making a bad choice of schools. Parents want to believe they’ve made the right decisions for their children.

In the end, Imagine Bridge Academy must obtain a charter from Ball State University. Because of questions raised by The Journal Gazette, the university is taking a more critical look at Imagine Schools and its authority over local school board members.

In the meantime, East Allen County Schools is facing a budget shortfall that could be made worse by a substantial decrease in enrollment. The board should consider not only the competitive threat the proposed charter school offers, but also its unproven achievement record.

As with the Fort Wayne schools, the charter school students eventually will return to middle school at East Allen, so EACS members must understand that their responsibility to the students doesn’t end when a charter school opens.

Imagine Schools has too many unanswered questions to proceed with a third school here. EACS should not pave the way for its expansion.