A low-performing charter school in Baton Rouge that the state has ordered to close in May has turned to the East Baton Rouge Parish school system to stay in business, but the superintendent says that after some thought heโs against the idea.
โThat is not something we can do at this time,โ Superintendent Warren Drake said on Tuesday.
A Florida-based for-profit charter management company that operates nine schools in Louisian…
Rejecting pleas by parents, school leaders and community leaders who came out to support the school, the ถถา๕h Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted Dec. 7 to close Baton Rouge Charter Academy in Mid-City. The school, which opened in August 2013, has 676 students and is one of the largest charter schools in town. Those students will have to find new schools next year unless something changes.
Charter schools are public schools run by private organizations, nonprofit or for-profit, via short-term contracts, or charter.
The school is run by Florida-based for-profit charter management company, Charter Schools USA. Three of them are in the Baton Rouge area and two are in the Lafayette area.
Colleen Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the charter school company, released a statement Wednesday that says the company is still working to find a solution: โWe will not give up on our students. We stand with them.โ
Reynolds said many of the children are already victims of the August floods and closing the school would victimize them again: โIt would be another tragedy in their young lives to require them to have to leave the school where they've developed strong relationships with teachers and friends. They would be dispersed to schools throughout the entire parish.โ
Drake said that several days after the BESE vote he was visited by Jon Hage, president and CEO of Charter Schools USA, who floated the idea of having the parish school system take over the schoolโs charter.
Drake said he also spoke with the schoolโs principal, Tale Lockett, and talked over the idea with members of his senior leadership team but concluded itโs not a good idea. Drake said he informed Lockett of his decision and left several voice mails with Hage.
โI think the state has a process. I think we should respect the state process, just like they should respect our process,โ Drake said.
Baton Rouge Charter Academy in Mid-City, located in the former Remington College building at 1771 N. Lobdell Blvd., has had an F rating since it started. Its most recent school performance score is 38 on a 150-point scale. That score places it above only nine other schools in the greater Baton Rouge area. Six of those are alternative schools, which educate special groups of students, such as those who are years behind their peers, have disciplinary problems or suffer from disabilities.
State policy calls for closing F-rated charter schools after their fourth year, unless BESE grants a reprieve, which it chose not to. The schoolโs fate was further sealed by its status as the lowest performing school in its part of Baton Rouge. Baton Rougeโs two BESE representatives, Kathy Edmonston and Jada Lewis, voted against closure in hopes that the board would the put the matter off a month.
The East Baton Rouge Parish school system could grant the school a charter to replace its state charter. The school system, though, has not agreed to do that in the 20 years that charter schools have been in existence in ถถา๕h.
โIโm not even sure how that would work,โ Drake said.
Even if Drake says no, the parish School Board could overrule him and grant the school a charter anyway.
Evelyn Ware-Jackson is acting School Board president and her District 5 includes the charter school. She said sheโs undecided on which way to go.
โThis is a really unfortunate situation and we are going to have to figure out what we need to do,โ she said.
Ware-Jackson said Wednesday she last spoke with Drake before Christmas and is not aware heโs come out against granting the school a charter, but looks forward to hearing his reasons why. She also said sheโs not received any calls from constituents on the issue, but said that could change now that the holidays are over.
Charter Schools USA served 700 free meals on Aug. 24 to the East Baton Rouge Parish communit…
Board member Dawn Collins said the principal of the school asked her to visit the school before the holidays and she did. She said while the school looks like itโs run well, its low test scores give her pause.
โNot sure why we would give them a charter when the state voted to close them,โ she said.