Charter schools move a step ahead

The School Board approves all three groups wanting to open charter schools, but they must first answer the board's questions satisfactorily.

By KENT FISCHER

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 16, 2000

LAND O'LAKES -- The Pasco County School Board gave tentative approval Tuesday night to three groups trying to start the district's first charter schools.

Board members approved all three of the groups' charter applications, but did so with lots of stipulations. Board members wanted more details on things like curriculum, how students will be tested and under what conditions students would be expelled, to name a few.

If the groups can't answer the board's questions satisfactorily, then it may rescind its approval of the applications, said board President Marge Whaley.

The vote means the three schools can begin negotiating contracts with the school district. Those contracts must spell out in detail the answers to questions raised by board members Tuesday. Two of the organizing groups plan to open in August. The third plans to open in August 2001.

Charter schools are funded with public tax dollars and operate under the auspices of local school boards. Charter schools receive the same per-pupil funding that public schools do, but they are free of much of the state's school bureaucracy and regulation.

In exchange for the freedom, charter schools must sign a contract with the School Board that delineates the school's curriculum, facilities and policies. The contract also explains how charter schools will show that their students are learning.

There are 110 charter schools in Florida, enrolling about 19,000 students. There are 10 charter schools in Hillsborough County, three in Pinellas and so far none in Pasco.

Tuesday, the School Board tentatively accepted charter applications from three groups:

The Second Amendment Republican Club of Pasco County wants to open a back-to-basics elementary school in August.

A group of artistically-inclined parents wants to open an elementary school for the arts at the Calvary Chapel Worship Center on Trouble Creek Road in August.

A group spearheaded by Tampa businessman Thomas Lange would open an agriculture-based school for both disabled and non-disabled children in August 2001. Lange owns a horse farm near Dade City.

To try to gain some expertise, the School Board met with Charlene Pirko, an administrator from Hillsborough County who oversees charter schools there.

Pirko told board members that the biggest problems her district has had with its 10 charter schools have not centered on curriculum issues, but on the behind-the-scenes wrinkles, such as budgeting and teacher certification.

Pirko told the board to treat the charter schools the same as any other school in the district.

Hook the schools up to the district's computer system and include them in district-wide planning meetings, she advised.

"We include charter school personnel in every way we can," she said. "It's important to keep open those lines of communication."

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