By Andrew Coen
The plan to move forward with the charter-school proposal was presented at Monday's Atlantic Beach village board meeting. Gerry Vazquez, president of the New York Charter School Resource Center, was on hand to explain what needs to be done to start a new school for 2006-07. According to the Web site www.uscharterschools.org, charter schools are nonsectarian public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools.
Atlantic Beach officials are contemplating a kindergarten-through-fourth grade charter school, to occupy the current site of the Sportime tennis and fitness building, at 60 The Plaza. The Sportime building will be up for sale next year, according to the village's deputy mayor, Janice Goorland, who, as a resident, has been active in the effort to launch a local charter school. She said the hope is to offer a bid for the property and, if successful, redesign it to accommodate a charter school.
Goorland said that if a charter school is approved and community leaders are successful in buying the Sportime building, work could be done in the winter months to refurbish it and convert it into a school.
Funds for charter schools come from a combination of state aid, a local tax levy and federal money set aside for the charter school program, Vazquez said. Roughly 70 percent of the money a district spends per child would be earmarked for the charter school, Vazquez explained, which would equate to $16,000 per child in District 15.
A major reason Atlantic Beach parents are taking the initiative to start an alternative school is frustration over the closing of the Number One School in Lawrence, where area children attended class before the school board shut it down last June as part of a consolidation plan to save the district money. Atlantic Beach children are now bused to the Number Six School in Woodmere, four villages away from Atlantic Beach.
Area parents have also expressed frustration with a school system operating on a contingency budget for three straight years and facing increased class sizes and more cuts in school programs and staff. The Lawrence school budgets have been rejected by voters the last three years.
While the push for alternatives to District 15 schools is coming from local parents, if a charter school were to be established in the village, it would accept students from the entire district and throughout the county, if seats were available, with local students getting the first openings, according to Vazquez. Class sizes could be capped, and a lottery system would be used to fill them, Vazquez said.
Vazquez, who also spoke at the Feb. 7 Atlantic Beach village board meeting, when the charter school idea was first being explored, said that an application for the school would need to be submitted by Sept. 30 for it to be approved for 2006-07. According to Vazquez, the state has approved 85 charter school licenses since 1998 and is permitted to give out only 15 more, so if the parents decide to wait until the 2007-08 school year, they may risk losing out. "The timing for this cycle is very short," said Vazquez. "We have this window of opportunity right now."
Goorland, who has been active in the District 15 PTA, said the plan would be to start off as an elementary school, through fourth grade, and then expand the school by a grade each year up to eighth grade. According to Goorland, there are 340 students in Atlantic Beach who are transported to Lawrence Public Schools, and the community has seen an increase recently in the number of young parents with children, which would mean the area could support a charter school. "I believe if we do this, we will have 150 students in our school," said Goorland.
Vazquez said that to get a charter school approved in the area, documentation needs to be provided showing community support for the idea as well as the establishment of sufficient start-up funds. To set up the application, $12,500 needs to be raised, Vazquez said. "The parents have done a terrific job looking at this," said Vazquez. "You have as good a shot as anybody."
Of the more than 3,400 charter schools nationwide, three of the 85 that operate in New York are on Long Island - in Roosevelt, Riverhead and East Hampton. While many such schools meet specific needs or programs, Goorland said at Monday's meeting that parents would like to see a "multi-intelligence thematic approach," which could serve as an alternative to the public school system. The multi-intelligence approach incorporates a variety of teaching strategies depending on students' needs, according to Goorland.
Lawrence school board President Frank Parise said he plans to speak with District 15 attorneys in the coming month about what the effects would be if a charter school were created in the area, possibly reducing public-school enrollment. "Obviously there are some implications for the school district, but what those are I don't know yet," said Parise.
Parise said that even though a charter school would take away students from District 15, he has no problem with the parents exploring the option. "Anything they feel they need for their children is a positive regardless of [where they attend school]," said Parise. "I wish them the best."
Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler first expressed a desire to explore other school options for his community after district voters defeated the proposed 2003-04 budget. He has also studied the idea of joining the neighboring Long Beach school system. But Mahler said recently that the concept is not realistic, since, according to the State Education Department, the reorganization of a school district requires the consent of both the superintendent and the school board.
To make sure the Sept. 30 application deadline is met, Goorland has scheduled a meeting on Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. at Atlantic Beach village hall to further discuss charter-school plans.
While Goorland said that raising the necessary money would be a challenge, she has confidence that residents will come together. "We will chip in, we will all donate and we will make this happen," she said. "Rome isn't built in a day."
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
