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REBECCA CATALANELLODistrict administrators would like to require frequent financial checkups at the Athenian Academy charter school.
A Greek immersion charter school might be on the horizon for Pasco County - as long as school founders agree to keep their financial accounts in order.
Pasco education leaders are recommending the School Board approve Athenian Academy of Pasco County Charter School to open in 2005 despite "serious independent audit findings" at its 4-year-old Dunedin campus, documents issued Thursday read.
Mary Tillman, internal auditor for the Pasco school district, said administrators would like to give Athenian the green light with the condition that its charter include language allowing frequent financial checkups by the district.
"I'm thinking someone within the district would go out and conduct a little mini-audit," Tillman said. Already, the district reviews charter school finances every month, she said. Charter schools are publicly funded but are under the control of private entities.
In March 2001, Athenian Academy in Pinellas County received its first audit - one that revealed the new school was in danger of ending its first year in debt. The school has survived and grown from 20 students its first year to 120 today, according to Athenian president George Poumakis.
Poumakis could not be reached late Thursday to discuss Pasco's conditional approval.
Max Ramos, charter liaison for the district, said charter law does not allow the district to deny Athenian's application based on past financial questions at the Dunedin school. That's because two schools are considered separate entities and will be governed by separate boards.
But in a memo to Pasco's school finance chief, Ramos wrote that "the fact that some of the same board members (from Dunedin) are involved with the Pasco application will lead the District to insist upon strict financial and governance controls prior to the granting of a final charter."
Pasco County School Board members will consider the application during their meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Land O'Lakes.
In the meantime, one of the other two 2005 Pasco County charter school applicants withdrew its proposal Thursday.
Summit Academy, a Cleveland-based charter school geared to students with attention deficit disorder and the related Asperger's Disorder, pulled its seven Florida applications with a goal to reapply in 2005, school co-founder Gerald Horak said: "I think we'll be able to build a better program."
The charter corporation plans to set up an office in the Tampa Bay area this winter with hopes of working more closely with school districts for future charter applications. Summit has 18 schools in Ohio and has been approved to open another 19 next year.
"If they can do it in Ohio, then there's no reason they can't do it in Florida," Ramos said. "They just have to play Florida's game."
Ramos was set to recommend the School Board reject Summit's application along with a proposal from New Port Richey 21st Century School on Tuesday. With both schools, Ramos praised the concepts but said parts of the applications don't meet state requirements. But he said that both seemed feasible with more time.
Lee Dury, a Chasco Middle School teacher and author of the 21st Century School application, said he plans to address the School Board Tuesday in an effort to persuade them the school can work and the proposal makes sense as written.
"I think to pull back kind of says we're not really as prepared as we thought we were - but I think we are," Dury said.