Columns

Another charter school in danger of becoming a memory

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published December 10, 2006

This time of year, while other schools are rehearsing for holiday concerts, the Language Academy charter school in Port Richey struggles to generate Christmas cheer.

Teachers will get one less paycheck this month as part of the school's financial rescue plan. Even that may not be enough to impress the Pasco County School Board as it decides whether to close the school, which serves 85 children in grades 5 through 8.

Charter schools, no matter all the good work they're doing teaching kids, can't seem to get past the negative headlines. The Language Academy's financial problems started under the leadership of former principal and founder, the Rev. Gary Carson, who in 2002 secured federal grants to buy computers, furniture, textbooks and a school bus to start the school.

But an independent audit determined that the money was mishandled. In 2004, Carson left the school and later was defrocked as a Presbyterian minister. The Pasco Sheriff's Office is investigating whether checks were forged to make purchases seem legitimate. When the school opened, there were no new computers, no school buses. When principal Joyce Nunn took over in 2004, the school was getting used furniture from the school district warehouse; students read from old textbooks.

The events at Language Academy, which emphasizes Spanish in its curriculum, are a sad reminder of what happened at another Pasco charter school, the now closed Deerwood Academy, where as much as $200,000 went missing, much of it stolen by an employee with a long criminal history.

The scandals are unfortunate, because charter schools generally have met the needs of scores of students and parents who want an alternative to traditional public schools but can't afford private school tuition. More than 100,000 students attend charter schools in Florida at 300 campuses.

In many districts, charter schools ease overcrowding. Charter schools have been credited with closing the achievement gap between white and minority students. In South Florida, black and Hispanic charter school students are reading as well as their white public school counterparts.

In these parts, Hernando County's lone charter school, Gulf Coast Academy, ranks second among Florida middle schools on FCAT scores.

Successful charter schools depend on experienced educators, tight financial controls and a strong board of directors who do more than nod their heads and sign their names.

School districts parcel out thousands of dollars each month to charter schools, but they're not on site to monitor how the money is spent.

They're supposed to vet charter school applications in two months. But how can they accurately evaluate charter school operators under a tight deadline?

Charter schools occasionally are run by people with good intentions but lacking in business experience that might help avoid such problems.

That would be the charitable conclusion for what happened at the Language Academy.

Many dedicated educators remain at the school, and by all accounts they can count numerous academic successes. They are rallying to survive into the new year. Good luck to them.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 9, 2006, 21:04:48]