Charter school plans met with scrutiny from officials

After missing its deadline to open this year, the Howard & Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School is once again taking steps toward state approval.

But as the school seeks to get its construction plans approved, it has fielded scrutiny from some local officials who don’t think it should open at all.

Lee Charter — which seeks to close the racial achievement gap and eliminate overcrowding in grades K-8 — received preliminary approval on Thursday from the N.C. State Board of Education.

Charter schools use public funds but aren’t subject to the same state regulations as public schools as long as they achieve the goals listed in their charters.

Lee Charter, which is partnering with for-profit school management company National Heritage Academies, is on track to open in August 2013 — if it is able to secure a temporary space.

The school was approved last year but was unable to open for the 2012-13 school year because it could not find a temporary facility.

Nick Paradiso, director of government relations for National Heritage Academies, said it has found a permanent space for the school in the Claremont South development on Homestead Road in Carrboro.

But he said the town of Carrboro needs to approve development plans before construction can begin, and he anticipates a decision in late 2012 or early 2013.

Lee Charter hopes to mitigate the achievement gap through early identification of students’ academic need, immediate intervention and close monitoring of student progress.

According to the application the school submitted to the state board for approval, more than 95 percent of white students passed both math and reading tests in the 2009-10 school year, but roughly 54 percent of black students passed both tests.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education Superintendent Tom Forcella and the local branch of the NAACP have opposed the school in the past, arguing that it will decrease diversity and that the district is already working to close the achievement gap.

James Barrett, a member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, said the board sent a letter to the state detailing its concerns about the school’s possible negative impact on the district.

“Personally, I think the biggest issue is that it’s a for-profit company and doesn’t have a track record for great education,”
Barrett said.

“If you look at the results for their existing charter schools in North Carolina, they’re basically average, and our district is better than that.”

William Harrison, chairman of the state board of education, said the school’s board members will have to complete training and come up with a more specific plan before they can get final approval in March.

Contact the desk editor at
city@dailytarheel.com.