State Denies Charter School Appeal

State Denies Charter School Appeal

BROOKSVILLE - The Hernando County School District was justified in its decision to deny an application for a charter school for dropouts, the state Board of Education ruled Tuesday.

The state board was unanimous in its decision to deny an appeal from New Alternative Education High School of Hernando County. The school would have been run by a governing board and operated by the Mavericks In Education, a private company based in Fort Lauderdale.

The state board members voted with little discussion to uphold the Hernando district's rejection of the plan based on concerns about how much control the governing board would have over the school's finances. Some public money would have been used for the school.

A state appeals board had previously found in favor of the charter school, but Tuesday's ruling reversed that ruling. Mavericks CEO Mark Thimmig said Wednesday that the governing board would consider whether to submit a new application by the Aug. 1 deadline with the goal to open the school by next year.