By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
Despite district backlash, the State Board of Education unanimously approved the Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School last Thursday.
The charter school was one of nine charter schools across North Carolina the board approved, setting in motion their plans to open by August 2012.
“We are very excited about moving forward,†Lee Charter School board member Stephanie Perry said. “We definitely have to schedule some more community meetings to foster conversation and speak to our values.â€
The school has been the subject of controversy since its application was first submitted to the state, receiving criticism from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP. Both organizations have raised concerns about the school’s for-profit management company, National Heritage Academies, and say the school targets minority students, which would lower diversity rates in district schools.
The Lee Scholars Charter School application states that its purpose is to provide “high-quality K-8 education that closes achievement gaps and places each student on the path to college readiness.â€
Despite the school’s approval, Robert Campbell, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, said his organization still opposes the school.
“We are concerned about the quality of education for all of our children,†Campbell said, “not just singling out those who appear to be failing, and not just singling out minorities.â€
Campbell also said he still has questions regarding transportation to the school, where it will be located, if it will provide food to students and how school officials will work with the district.
“So far there has been no transparency,†Campbell said. “There has been no cohesive collaboration, and there needs to be a dialogue not only with the school board but also through some type of community forum.â€
Perry said the board is currently working on community building and outreach and plans to start a massive marketing and community-relations plan soon.
“Our main focus is definitely opening up that space where we can meet parents and form relationships,†Perry said.
Darrell Allison, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, said regardless of the community’s initial perceptions, he believes the charter school will have a positive impact in the county.
“It creates a win-win for our children and for our families. Regardless of what school they choose, the chances are that the quality of education will be significantly increased,†Allison said.
In addition to moving forward with community outreach and internal organization, Perry said the school is narrowing down location options and figuring out how to intermingle future students with the district students.
The school will be accepting 480 students in grades K-5 for next year, with plans to eventually expand to K-8 to serve more than 700 students.
While students would have the option to attend the charter school for elementary and middle school, they would then return to the traditional district public schools for high school.
“It is not like we will be taking away children to our school from the district,†Perry said. “We will be turning them right back into the district for high school.â€
Allison said he hopes the initial criticism will dissipate so the district can instead focus on collaboration efforts.
“My hope is that we, the community, do not begin to alienate the families and children that choose this as an option,†he said.
“When we look at the state of education, whether it is in Orange County or any of the other 99 counties in North Carolina, we have a lot of work to do.â€