BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
Brooker Community School board members answered questions about the proposed charter school during a workshop with the school district on Aug. 22.
The Bradford School Board is scheduled to vote on the charter school application next month after being granted a 30-day extension to consider the application.
Charter school board members answered questions about enrollment, budget, transportation, curriculum and more, expressing an interest in working amicably with the school district.
“That’s why we wanted to keep this whole process congenial. We are serving your students,” said Randy Starling in answering a question about working with the district to meet the special needs of ESE students.
Starling is director of a charter school in Alachua County who worked many years for the Bradford School District. He will serve as vice chairman and treasurer on the Brooker Community School Board.
Brooker Town Clerk Suzanne McCree is set to take on the role of charter school board chair. Engineer Jerome Kelley will serve as secretary, and retired teachers Gail Cook and William Harrell are board members as well. They have been working with charter school consultant Raquel Espinosa from Miami.
“I have to say, in all the years and all of the many, many clients I have, I’ve never been as impressed about the passion of a group to start a school. It’s a real grass roots effort,” Espinosa said.
They have also hired Richard Trainor, a former CFO for Alachua schools and auditor, who now works on charter school finances, and attorney Braxton Padgett, an experienced charter school attorney from Jacksonville.
The charter school is intended to serve as a community school for Brooker with a rigorous curriculum that could even draw students from surrounding areas. There is also talk of weaving Brooker’s rural nature into the curriculum with a focus on agriculture that could feed students into the middle school’s agricultural program.
The charter school application was submitted in May. Since that time Superintendent Will Hartley, Assistant Superintendent Karen Clarke and department heads from finance, student services and food services have worked with a charter school consultant of their own to study the application, prepare questions and give the charter school board an opportunity to respond.
On Monday, Bradford School Board members had their chance to pose questions about the school, which, if approved, would open next August with as many as 116 kindergarten through fifth-grade students. The school distributed surveys and 237 were returned — all with positive responses about sending children to a local charter school. All except one responded they would provide transportation to do so, since there will be no buses running to and from the school.
School Board Member Candace Osteen asked whether they know how many former Brooker Elementary School students had relied on bus transportation. According to the superintendent, it was 67%. With parents traveling to work outside of the area, Osteen said the lack of school transportation could pose a problem.
McRee said they are relying on the willingness expressed in the parent surveys, but parents would retain their choice send their child to a district school if transportation is an insurmountable problem. On the other hand, Starling said if parents feel an available charter school is a better fit for their child, many make the effort to provide transportation. Parents will have an early drop-off opportunity at the school if they do work outside of the area, he said.
While they won’t rely on the school district for transportation, the charter school board is hoping to work with food services to provide breakfasts and lunches. Starling said he has worked with current Bradford Food Service Director Blake Dicks in Alachua County, where his charter school picks up meals from one of the high schools. They are hoping for the same cooperation with the Bradford School District. Similarly, charter schools work hand-in-hand with school districts to provide all of the necessary services for ESE students, he said.
School Board Member Erica Reddish asked how the charter school would alter its structure if there were fewer students than anticipated or a concentration of students in a particular age group. How the structure would change would depend on who shows up. Enrollment will run from January through April 2023, giving them time to plan for the school’s opening in the fall, Starling said. Parents would know in plenty of time if the school needs to drop or combine grade groups.
Starling also addressed the budget after having talked individually with school board members. The fund balance in year one for the budget submitted was low, he admitted, adding that charter schools are not held to the same 3% fund balance standard that school districts are. However, since submitting the application with the proposed budget, they have raised more than $40,000 in donations which can be rolled into the first year’s budget and provide an even larger cushion.
McRee said everyone at the table brings something, but it has been a learning process for them all. Brooker has never had a charter school, she said, but every question they have encountered has been another opportunity to learn more.
“I know that we’ve spoken very candidly about working in partnership. This has to be a joint effort,” she said, asking if they had given the school board everything they need. “Is there anything that would hinder approval?” she asked, requesting the board let them know.
“Please, let’s go ahead and let’s address that. Because the fact is that we all know the state of Florida is very favorable for charter schools. So if there’s something we haven’t addressed, we will address it. If there’s a concern you have, no one’s walking away without that answer, We will answer it,” she said.
The school board will vote on the charter school application at its Sept. 12 meeting. There is a state appeals process if the school board denies the application. If approved, the superintendent will begin negotiating a contract with the new school.
