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Dinosaur Community Charter School Principal Dana Forbes has reason to celebrate. The Charter School Institute granted his charter application conditional approval Monday afternoon in Denver.

"We were sweating bullets for

2 1/2 hours," Forbes said.

After Forbes managed to overturn the five-member board of the Charter School Institute's first motion of denial, he convinced the board about the school's vital role and won unanimous conditional approval for his application.

"I wasn't sure at first. They really put us on-guard. It was tough. The group right before us got turned down," Forbes said.

Forbes' true challenge now lies ahead. At the end of the 2006 school year, the school will cease to operate under the supervision of the Moffat County School District. It will have to report to and be able to receive funding from the Denver-based institute only if Forbes and the Dinosaur school faculty can meet the strict set of the approval resolution's stipulations to be submitted for board approval July 1.

The school serves 41 students in kindergarten through seventh grade.

"They've really got their work cut out for them. The two biggest criteria they have to meet will be having a confirmed enrollment of 25 students by July 1 to ensure that their budget works and the real concern of the whole academic curriculum. They need to rally the community to get the support to be an academic success and have a really solid working plan of what the school will look like," said Randy DeHoff, the institute's executive director. "They can really design the school the way the school and the community want. If they can come up with that plan, enrollment shouldn't be a problem. It's a challenge, but they can do it."

Despite that his supervising authority will now be 5 1/2 hours away instead of just 90 minutes, Forbes is confident that he and the faculty will develop a coherent plan and gain valuable community support in the next months.

"We needed a fresh start. A lot of our issues were not being understood by Moffat County. It's a positive move and will be much easier to communicate and deal directly with the state," Forbes said.

Forbes is not the only one who feels positive about a transition that promises to be mutually beneficial for the school and the Moffat County School District.

"We're hopeful and excited, and we'll work closely with them to make sure it will work," DeHoff added.