Of 12 interested, 5 put in applications for charter schools

New Academics Plus campus in Scott among proposals for 6 slots in state

Academics Plus Charter School Executive Director Rob McGill is shown in this file photo.
Academics Plus Charter School Executive Director Rob McGill is shown in this file photo.

The five organizations now applying to establish open-enrollment charter schools in Arkansas for the 2016-17 school year include one of the oldest charter-school operators in the state and two others with ties to school-choice programs in Washington, D.C.

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Virginia Walden Ford (right) of Little Rock is is executive director of the Arkansas Parent Network. She is shown in this file photo with Rod Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education, 2001-2005.

In all, charter-school planners have proposed six new publicly funded, independently operated schools to be based in Little Rock, Fort Smith, Bentonville, Redfield and the Scott community.

The six charter applications submitted to the Arkansas Department of Education by last week's deadline is a considerably smaller number than officials initially anticipated for the 2016-17 school year. In June, 12 organizations sent letters to the department stating their early intentions to submit applications to open 17 charter schools.

Kimberly Friedman, a spokesman for the department, said agency employees don't attempt to track why an organization that sends a letter of intent doesn't follow up with a full application. But agency staff members may hear the reasons in some of the cases.

"There are a variety of reasons," Friedman said. "Sometimes they decide to ask instead for an amendment to an existing school charter. Sometimes after they attend our applicant workshop, they decide this isn't the route they want to go."

The charter-school applications will be evaluated and acted on by the Education Department's Charter Authorizing Panel at hearings Oct. 14-15.

Charter-school planners and the school districts in which the proposed schools would be placed can appeal the panel's decisions to the state Board of Education, which also can review a charter panel decision on its own initiative.

All six proposed schools could be approved and awarded charters for the 2016-17 school year. That's because language in state law enabled the old, long-standing cap of 24 charter schools to be increased to 29.

There already are 22 charter schools or charter-school systems approved for operation in the coming 2015-16 school year, making seven charters available for new schools.

Academics Plus Charter School Inc., which has operated Academics Plus Charter School in Maumelle since the 2001-02 school year, has applied to begin a charter school in the Scott community in east Pulaski County. That's where the Pulaski County Special School District recently closed an elementary campus as a money-saving measure despite some opposition from community members.

Rob McGill, executive director of Academics Plus, said Friday that the Scott situation came to his attention at a time when his organization was considering the possibility of opening its first school outside of Maumelle.

"We were looking at expanding because we have the capacity, I think, with the personnel we have and the financial backing we have at this point. Everything lined up," McGill said.

If approved by the Charter Authorizing Panel and the state Board of Education, the proposed Scott Charter School would open to kindergarten through sixth grades in year one and then expand one grade a year through 12th grade. The charter planners are seeking an enrollment cap of 975 students.

Features of the proposed Scott Charter School would include 90 hours of teacher training a year, and an extended school year and school day for students, McGill said. Additionally, the academic program would tie into the farming industry in the Scott area by integrating an emphasis on agricultural science into the college-preparatory program.

McGill and other planners for the new charter school are negotiating with the Pulaski County Special district to acquire the district's Scott Elementary School. There's no agreement on that, but he said he is hopeful there can be one, said McGill, a former principal and interim superintendent in the Pulaski County Special district.

The Friendship Education Foundation -- which operates charter schools in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Baton Rouge -- has submitted two applications for kindergarten-through-eighth grade schools that would be located within the borders of the Little Rock School District, serving 450 pupils each.

Kimberly Williams, the foundation's executive director, said Friday that the organization is seeking approval to open the Friendship Aspire Academy for the 2016-17 school year at 7723 Colonel Glenn Road, which is a former location of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Criminal Justice Institute.

The charter organization would seek to open the Friendship Lead Academy the next year in an area in which there is a high percentage of low-income and/or minority-group students.

Typically the Charter Authorizing Panel and Education Board deal with one year of school applications at a time, making it uncertain whether the Friendship Lead Academy application will be considered before next year.

The programs at the Aspire and Lead schools would feature smaller learning communities or clusters of students with similar abilities and needs. The proposed curriculum features the core academic subjects, "exposure to the world" and course work connected to career study. Saturday school for students who need extra help and after-school clubs and activities are other components of the schools.

Another charter school, Arkansas Connections Academy, is planned for as many as 3,000 students statewide in kindergarten through 12th grade. Much of the personalized educational program would be provided to students online, but the school would have headquarters at 609 SW Eighth St., Bentonville.

The Arkansas organization would contract with Connections Academy, a national online educational service, for the school's academic program, including Advanced Placement, foreign language and technology courses.

Virginia Walden Ford of Little Rock is listed as the treasurer for the board of directors for the school and the school's chief operating officer.

Ford is executive director of the Arkansas Parent Network and, as a former resident of Washington, D.C., was a leader in efforts to win the 2004 passage in Congress of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. The program provides federally funded private kindergarten-12th grade school scholarships to high-need families in that city.

Another proposed charter school is Redfield Tri-County Charter School, which would serve up to 400 students in grades five through 12.

Amanda Kight is the contact for the nonprofit organization that is sponsoring the school.

The school would be at 101 School St., Redfield, in the White Hall School District. The building -- last used as a school in the 2012-13 school year -- was purchased by the Keep Redfield Middle School organization and has been used most recently as a community center.

If approved, the school would feature a focus on college and career readiness, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- known as STEM subjects. Character values and community-service projects are additional elements of the school plan.

The proposed Future School of Fort Smith would serve up to 450 students in grades 10 through 12 at an as yet unidentified address.

The charter school would feature project-based instruction, personalized curriculums, integrated technology, and real-world internships. The school's mission envisions students graduating with three years of real-world work, volunteer and collegiate experience.

Trish Flanagan of Fort Smith, a former Teach for America corps member, is the founder and contact for the sponsoring Future School organization. The treasurer for the board of directors is Steve Clark, founder and chairman of Noble Impact, a high school program to encourage entrepreneurs.

The organization has entered into memorandums of understanding with the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and the Fort Smith School District.

SundayMonday on 08/02/2015

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