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Hernando Today

Charter School Plan To Be Considered

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: October 21, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - The idea to create a charter school designed for dropouts is a noble one, school officials have agreed.

However, the success of the school would hinge on a large enough student population and solid financial footing.
Mavericks High has critical flaws on both those counts and is troublesome in other areas despite revisions, a district review committee maintains. Today, the school board is slated to consider the plan's fate. Staff is recommending the issue be placed on the agenda of the board's regular meeting on Nov. 4 for a yes or no vote.

The school is a proposal by Mavericks In Education D. Wade's Schools. It's a private firm named after NBA star Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat. The company would use allocated funds from the district's budget to lease and manage the school, as is protocol with charter schools.

But the revised plan still includes a faulty financial premise and overestimates the number of students who would enroll, according to the review committee report.
Mavericks would get a $25,000 startup grant from the state and then a $250,000 grant to operate the school in the first year. But the firm's budget includes that amount both in the first budget year and again in the 2009-10 year, said Dave Schoelles, the district's curriculum specialist and a member of the committee.

"No matter how the committee looked at it, it was that same $250,000 twice," Schoelles said.

The original Mavericks plan estimated an enrollment of 500 students and based its budget projections on that number. The revised plan dropped the estimate to 350.

That's still unrealistic, the review committee concluded.
District officials put the county's pool of dropouts between the ages of 15 and 21 at about 2,000. A more reasonable estimate for the charter high school's first year enrollment is 100 students, the committee contends.

"Students who drop out from regular high school are very difficult to retrieve, and this charter school has no plans to provide transportation for any student, thus making that retrieval even more difficult," the committee wrote.

The Mavericks proposal did not include a backup financial plan for a scenario in which enrollment figures fall short and fewer full-time enrollment dollars come in from the state. The state is currently providing $5,908 per student but has warned school boards to expect another 2 percent cut.

If the school in its first year enrolls half its projected number - about 175 - then the operation could be some $400,000 in the red, Schoelles said.

The committee also is concerned the school's governing board would not have enough control over the finances. Most of the enrollment money would go straight to Mavericks to spend "as they see fit," the committee wrote.

"No controls exist for the governing board to supervise and approve expenditures prior to turning those funds over to the management company," the report reads.

Nor is there a specific provision that requires Mavericks return any net funds left over at the end of the year. As the proposal is worded now, Maverick could keep that for profit, the committee concluded.

It all adds up to a murky plan that could put the district's students and finances at risk, especially if Mavericks bails on the program and the district were forced to close the school, Schoelles said.

"The reality is that we don't believe the resources would be there to continue to operate the school if the school's governing board and the management company were to sever its relations," Schoelles said. "You close something like that down and it's not good for students."
Mavericks disputes the committee's conclusions.

The district isn't giving credit to the firm's ability to attract the "hundreds" of students who have dropped out of school in the last six years, Mavericks officials wrote in a response to the district recommendation.

"Our ability to retrieve these students back into the school system should not be taken lightly as our methods of marketing and community outreach have proven to be successful in our prior experience in recruiting students with whom the district has lost touch," the response read.

The firm's budget includes a loan of nearly $115,000 to put toward start-up costs, Mavericks officials contend. The contract specifies that any unspent funds be carried forward for the school's operating budget and the books will be audited annually. And Mavericks doesn't expect to receive two $250,000 grants but followed directions from district staff to place the line item in both budget years.

"We were surprised to find the district felt it wasn't corrected," he said.

The district never gave such directions, Schoelles said. The committee stands by the recommendation.

Members of the charter school's governing board could not be reached for comment Monday. The board could bring back a revised plan for the 2010-11 school year, Schoelles said.

"I don't think there are any of us who wouldn't like to see this work," he said. "It's a good concept and a group that certainly needs the help."

Mark Thimmig, president and chief executive officer of Fort Lauderdale-based Mavericks in Education, said he'll be at today's meeting to make a case for the school's proposal.

"Hopefully, we have a situation where the superintendent and the (school) board can review the facts and come to a supportive conclusion," Thimmig said. "We're hoping the facts prevail."

Bullying rules on agenda

The school board also is slated to discuss a new anti-bullying policy today. Every school district in the state must adopt a policy according to a new state law.

The workshop will start at 1 p.m. at the school district headquarters, 919 N. Broad St., Brooksville.

The board will meet for its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Among the items on the agenda is a proposal to pay $70,075 to keep a school resource officer at Challenger K-8 for this school year.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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