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Hernando Today

'Deficiencies' In New Charter School Proposal

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By LINNEA BROWN

Published: September 1, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - With "multiple deficiencies" found in the proposal for Brooksville's newest charter school, school board members will have two choices tomorrow — allow the applicant to submit a revised proposal or reject it as is.

At a 1 p.m. school board workshop Tuesday, board members will review the application and a recommendation from the board's charter review committee, which found numerous holes in the first charter school application submitted to the district in years — Hernando County Mavericks High D. Wade's Schools, or "Mavericks High," for short.

Named for the famed Miami Heat basketball player, Dwayne Wade, the school would serve as many as 550 local students, ages 15 to 21, who have either dropped out of school or are at risk of dropping out. With a particular focus on reaching students in Brooksville, the proposed site for the school is inside the former Brooksville Regional Hospital building on Ponce De Leon Boulevard.

The company, Fort Lauderdale-based Mavericks In Education, would use allocated funds from the district's budget to lease and manage the school, as is protocol with charter schools.

But the committee found many gaps in the company's plan that would not comply with state law, including not enough certified teachers, not enough Exceptional Student Education services or strategies for students below reading level and inadequate spending controls.

"The budget presented is based on erroneous (full-time equivalent) revenue projections that are inconsistent with the district's revenue projections for the same five-year period," the committee wrote.

The district's projections show a per-pupil FTE revenue of $5,762 while the charter application builds its budget on an FTE per pupil projection of $6,090, which would "wipe out" the charter school's proposal first-year balance of $55,740, the committee reported.

"There are several significant issues that have to be resolved," said curriculum specialist and committee spokesman Dave Schoelles.

However, Superintendent Wayne Alexander is recommending that instead of outright rejecting the proposal, the board give the applicant a chance to withdraw it, make appropriate changes and submit a new plan.

In school board documents, Alexander said he feels the school could be beneficial for local students and the community, can be operated in an educationally and fiscally responsible manner and that the applicant seemed willing to make the requested changes.

A charter school is a public school that operates independently of a district but follows certain state regulations. Charter schools receive per-student funding from the state the same way districts do, and are also eligible for capital outlay funds. Officials may also apply for grants to help with programming.

As a public school, the alternative school could glean as much as $3.3 million dollars in per-student state funding from the school district's budget.

However, it could also generate more funding by drawing students back into the system who have dropped out.

Wade has not donated money for the project, but instead is working with the for-profit company for marketing purposes and as a role model for the school's students.

If the board approves, the applicant would have until Oct. 1 to submit a revised proposal.

"I suspect that based on my conversation with the charter school (officials), they would have a new application ready to submit right away," Schoelles said. "They're aware of what the concerns are, and have indicated they are willing to address those in a revised format."

The company plans to open other Mavericks High D. Wade schools throughout the state, and has put in applications in seven other counties. However, Hernando would be the first one.

In other school news:

At 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the district will hold a special meeting to adopt the Department of Administrative Hearing recommended order in the case of a school bus driver who spanked a student in November 2007.

The order is for the bus driver, Christopher O'Brien, and his attendant, Angelo DiPaolo, to be reprimanded and suspended without pay —O'Brien for five days, DiPaolo for three.

At the 1 p.m. workshop, board members will discuss the new Internal Revenue Services regulations' impacts to employers and 403(b) providers, which ultimately impacts retirement funds for employees.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, board members will meet for their regular board meeting.

All meetings will take place in the board room at the district's headquarters, located at 919 N. Broad Street in Brooksville.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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