Charter school effort underway in Seminole
SEMINOLE — Paul Campbell was ready to hire a talented engineer from Florida but the prospective employee wasn’t willing to relocate her family to a community she perceived to have poor schools.
“I’ve got a major problem for my company when it comes to recruiting,” said Campbell, CEO of Enviro Systems Inc., an aerospace company of about 195 employees in Seminole.
“One of the reasons we get turned down by workers is they don’t want to live here because of the school system.”
Campbell said he has two options: improve local education or relocate his company.
On Tuesday, he filed paperwork with Seminole Public Schools to launch a charter school that, if approved, would become the second of its kind outside of Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Changes to the state’s charter school laws in 2015 opened the door to communities outside of the state’s two largest cities. A private school in Carlton Landing on Lake Eufaula took advantage of the law change by converting to a charter school this year.
An effort is underway in Norman to launch a charter school but an application has not been filed with the school board.
Academy of Seminole would be the first rural charter to start from scratch. But if the Seminole Board of Education denies the application, which some in the community believe is a possibility, it could trigger a review by the state Department of Education.
“The whole idea behind the law change last year was that kids should have school options everywhere,” said Jennifer
Monies, executive director of the Oklahoma Educated Workforce Initiative and a member of the proposed charter school’s board. “The hope was it would spur innovation throughout the state, and this is an example of that.”
Application process
Seminole Superintendent Alfred Gaches told The Oklahoman the application would be brought to the school board for consideration.
“This is my first time dealing with this type of (application), so I’m not really familiar with the process,” Gaches said.
The district has 90 days to respond to the application, according to the Department of Education. The applicants would have 30 days to revise their application if the board were to reject it, but if the district and applicant can’t work out an agreement, the state Board of Education would weigh in.
If approved, the charter school would be eligible for state per pupil funding, but not local property tax revenue.
“I will have to look at the application and review it all, but I have some concerns on the direction it would take our community,” said Seminole board President Jack Cadenhead. “Our public school system is everything to our community and we already have division in our community over our school system. Something like this will create more divisiveness and it’s a further divide between the haves and the have-nots.”
The charter application was submitted on the same day Seminole voters rejected a $21.5 million bond proposal to build a new high school. Since the beginning of last school year, high school students have been meeting in a former grocery store building after it was determined the current high school building was unfit to occupy.
Cadenhead said the supporters of the charter school were vocal critics of the bond and said he believes the bond’s failure gives charter supporters more momentum in their effort.
But Campbell, who is serving as chairman of Advance Rural Education, the nonprofit created to lead the charter school push, said the application was filed at the end of the day Tuesday in an effort not to interfere with the bond vote. He also said the push to launch the charter would have happened regardless of the bond election results.
“I’m very frustrated with the school system, but it’s not personal,” Campbell said. “The quality of life in this area is poor, and the main anchor weighing everything down is the education system.”
Campbell said the charter school would focus on classical studies at the elementary and middle school level. High school courses would be built around math and science with an emphasis on preparing for college or technology training programs.
If approved, the school plans to start with grades 11 and 12 in 2017, with pre-K through 10th grade within three years.
Classes would be held at Seminole State College. Lana Reynolds, executive vice president for institution advancement at the college, said she believes there is enough space to rent to the charter school beginning next year.
Seminole is a city of about 7,500 people located 56 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The school district serves around 1,700 students.
Rural charter growth
After one year since the state expanded its charter school policy, it’s hard to tell what type of growth might be seen in rural communities.
“I don’t think we know enough about the rural communities to know how many are going to apply or where new charters might go,” said Brent Bushey, executive director of the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, an organization supporting charter and rural public schools. “I think some will say they want to try something new and think differently, and that’s what I hope we see.”
While charter schools have increased in Oklahoma since first allowed 19 years ago, the state remains behind many others in charter student enrollment. There are several national organizations that have worked to expand charter schools in rural and urban settings, including the Walton Family Foundation, which has worked with the Academy of Seminole in preparing for its application.
“We don’t have any official partnership with them, but they have been great mentors for us,” Campbell said about the Walton Family Foundation. “They’ve been like coaches for us.”
Seminole board member Marci Donaho said she expects debate over the charter application, but she isn’t sure which way she will vote.
“This could be a controversial issue for this community at this time, especially with where we are with the bond not passing,” Donaho said. “I kind of have mixed emotions. I know the intent is wellintentioned but it could be an issue.”