Charter School Group to Appeal Denial
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A group of community leaders hoping to open the area’s first charter school learned at a meeting Tuesday their application had been denied by the Jackson-Madison County School board. “The state guidelines say that the system would provide to the sponsors …reasons for the proposal not being accepted,” said Helen Owens, spokesperson for the Connections Preparatory Academy. Owens said this was their second attempt to have the application approved by the school board. She said after the first submission, her board requested specific reasons for the denial. “We got just a cut out of the rubrics…what the state said …..which we already had… as the reason it was rejected and given very low scores,” she adds. The state’s guidelines read: “If denied, board sends written objective reasons for denial to sponsor.” Owens said per this guideline the committee appointed by the board should have provided their notes specifying the deficiencies. “That’s not the process. The school board doesn’t build the application,” said Superintendent Buddy White of the Jackson-Madison County Board of Education. Superintendent White said the application included inconsistencies, as well. He said in addition to providing pertinent information, the application process shows the school board the applicant’s ability to follow directions and devise a plan. Owens insist her board followed state guidelines in completing the application. Superintendent White also stated the charter school would pose a financial burden to the district. He estimates $700,000 in state funds would be handed over to the charter school for its expected 95 students. Owens said 25 percent of those fund would go back to the district. In addition, she said the district would no longer have the expense of 95 students which she said would actually save the district money. Superintendent White said in addition to loosing state funds, the district would incur the expense of a charter school administrator which he said is required by the state. Owens denies this and said the district would not incur additional administrative cost. Lastly, Superintendent White said the student-to-teacher ratio would be negatively affected by adding the charter school. “If you pull 100 students …they’re not going to come out in nice blocks,” he said. Owens said her board will appeal the district’s decision and submit their application to the state where she feels it will be approved.
