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School Board Rejects Century Charter School Application
November 19, 2008
The Escambia County School Board has rejected a charter school proposal for the Charter Magnet School of Century.
“The application did not meet basic requirements,” Ronnie Arnold, school district spokesperson, said. “For instance, it was missing a budget.”
The application was filed minutes before the Escambia County Schools Department of Alternative Education closed on August 1, the deadline to apply for charter school status for the 2009-2010 school year. It was the only application filed to essential take over the Carver/Century K-8 School if it closed
Then Superintendent Jim Paul had indicated that he planned to recommend the closure of Carver/Century prior to leaving office, but that recommendation never came.
“We have to pause a minute on closing Carver/Century,” newly-installed Superintendent Malcolm Thomas told NorthEscambia.com hours after winning election. “It is not that I am in opposition to closing that school, but I don’t want to close it now to find out that we just have to reopen it next year.”
Project Green Leaf could the school’s saving grace. The electric car manufacturing facility with up to 1,100 jobs proposed for Century could drastically change the future of Carver/Century. “I want specific answers, not just the (Project Green Leaf) sales pitch before making a decision. I want the facts,” Thomas said. “That does not mean that it is over. It just means we are pressing the pause button on closing the school.”
According to the application, it was “Prepared by the Century Blue Ribbon Committee on Education and The Century Community Development Partnership, Inc.”. It was filed by “James Sutton as organizer of the Charter Magnet School at Century in organization” and “Irvin Stallworth as President/Executive Director of CCDP”.
The Town of Century formed its own Blue Ribbon Committee on May 19 and named several area residents to the committee, including Stallworth. That committee appointed by the town is not the committee that filed the charter school application, according to Century Mayor Freddie McCall.
The charter application was officially filed by the Century Community Development Partnership, Inc., a nonprofit headed by Stallworth. But Stallworth is very clear in the cover letter of the application that the CCDP did not intend to be the corporation running the school.
Entire sections of the application were left blank in the 81 page application document. The names, backgrounds and references for each person in the corporation was blank, except for the statement “This information to be determined”. The most notable missing information was a budget, with that section of the application labeled as “pending”.
Comments
One Response to “School Board Rejects Century Charter School Application”
I still have faith in Carver. They just need to score better on the FCAT this year and they will probably be okay. Anyway I’m hoping for them and praying for them. =D