By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education is concerned that a charter school proposed for the district could reduce diversity in schools, and they’re not the only ones worried.
Robert Campbell, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP and chair of the Rogers-Eubanks Coalition, is also concerned about the impact of the charter school, and has said the NAACP does not support it as proposed.
“We believe at this time that a charter school is not the answer for our educational gap,†he said. “Let us try to come together to do the right thing for our schools.â€
An application for the Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School cites the district’s still-prevalent achievement gap and massive school overcrowding as reasons why the school is needed. Angela Lee, daughter of former Chapel Hill Mayor Howard Lee, is named as the applicant.
At the school board meeting last week, board members and Superintendent Tom Forcella expressed concern over the amount of money the school could take from the district and that it targets recruiting minority students, which could potentially reduce diversity in schools.
“Our minority numbers are not huge, and if this comes to fruition it could significantly decrease our numbers as far as minority students,†Forcella said.
“I know that this district and community values diversity,†he added.
In a letter Forcella sent to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction Office of Charter Schools on Dec. 7, he defended the district’s efforts to close the achievement gap and alleviate overcrowding.
Data cited in the application regarding the achievement gap reference only the 2009-10 school year report card, while Forcella included three years of data in his letter, outlining improvements in closing the gap.
However, the board acknowledged there is still work to do.
“Obviously there is some level of demand for this school because we have not made as much progress as we would like to,†board member James Barrett said.
Campbell said he believes that the Rogers-Eubanks Coalition’s afterschool tutoring program and summer enrichment camp, which work with the district schools, are helping to address the needs of children and improve the minority achievement gap, noting marked improvements in participating students’ grades.
He added that initiatives that work with the district schools are what are needed to improve the achievement gap, not charter schools.
Also included in Forcella’s letter were the district’s plans to open elementary school 11 in August 2013, which will help reduce school overcrowding.
Forcella explained that the intent in sharing this information was not to degrade the charter school but to help the office make a more informed decision when considering allowing the school to be built.
“The board’s intent is not to refute the pedagogy, organizational scheme or vision of the proposed charter school, but rather the purpose of this correspondence is to provide accurate and at times more detailed information,†Forcella said in the letter.
Administrators of the Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School plan to partner with the National Heritage Academies, a for-profit charter school management group that has schools in 71 locations in nine states, including North Carolina.
If approved, the charter school would open in August 2012 for 480 students in grades K-5 and would eventually expand to grades K-8, serving more than 700 students.
In addition to eventually removing 700 students from the district, according to Todd LoFrese, assistant superintendent for support services, the school could take up to $7 million away from the district.
“To take money out of the school system to accommodate a for-profit school, this is not the right time,†Campbell said.
This summer the state lifted the cap, previously set at 100, on the number of charter schools that can operate in North Carolina.
The Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School, which is named for the first black mayor of Chapel Hill and his wife, who was an educator, has advanced to the next stage in the state application process, and applicants will have an interview with the Office of Charter Schools in January.
Readers may be interested in the following information about the National Heritage Academy for profit charter school which I garnered from several online sites.
The Acadamy in addition to teaching traditional subjects seeks also to provide moral instruction as stated in this excerpt From the website of the National Heritage Acadamyhttp://www.nhaschools.com/About-Us/Pages/Frequently-Asked-Questions.aspx
What about your moral focus curriculum?
“We believe great schools develop both a student’s heart and mind. Our moral focus curriculum is designed to support our parents’ efforts to teach character at home by reinforcing and modeling universal human virtues, such as compassion, respect and integrity. A different virtue is featured each month of the school year and is supported by curriculum in the classroom. Additionally, teachers model behavior that exemplifies the virtue, recognizing and praising students when they do the same. The moral focus curriculum is integrated throughout the school and creates an environment that is not just physically safe, but also emotionally safe. Students are taught to respect their classmates, to make smart decisions and to resolve disputes in a manner that displays strong
character.”
Also there is a “moral focus assembly” http://www.nhaschools.com/Our-Commitment/Moral-Focus/Pages/MoralFocus.aspx
As for the qualifications of the Academy leadership, look at their website,
http://www.nhaschools.com/Our-Commitment/Academic-Excellence/Pages/AcademicExcellence.aspx
and click on “leadership”, you will find the majority of those involved in the educational aspects of the Academy to be graduates of conservative Christian institutions, eg., George Fox University, Hope College and Cornerstone University.