Expanding choices
State school board votes to sponsor Seminole charter
The State Board of Education on Thursday voted unanimously to accept the appeal of a proposed charter school in Seminole, agreeing to become the school’s sponsor in the process.
About 100 supporters of The Academy of Seminole cheered the 7-0 vote by board members who rejected claims by Seminole Public Schools Superintendent Alfred Gaches that the application lacked community support.
It was the local school board that twice rejected the charter application, first in October and again last month.
Paul Campbell, chairman of the organization pushing for the charter, called the vote “a historic day for kids in rural Oklahoma.”
“We just needed to be able to produce high school students that are college-ready, and right now we’re just not getting that done,” he said. “We tried to work with the local school board and we offered several things to work with the traditional public school and we just couldn’t get on the same page.”
Seminole would become just the second rural charter school to open since a 2015 change in Oklahoma law that allowed charters to open outside of Oklahoma City and Tulsa, the state’s two largest cities.
A school in Carlton Landing on Lake Eufaula was the first to take advantage of the law change by opening as a charter school last year.
State schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said Thursday’s vote best serves children because it allows for “a local solution to a local problem to be able to move forward.”
“This is a well-thoughtthrough plan that came from the local community to be able to provide immediate opportunities for students to have their needs met,” she said. “It recognizes that not all students are going to learn the same way or share the same interests.”
The state board currently sponsors a charter school for the Office of Juvenile Affairs. Hofmeister called it the first arrangement of its kind to come from a local school board.
The Academy of Seminole is scheduled to open to high school juniors and seniors in the fall on the campus of Seminole State University. In addition to a STEM-based learning program for grades 9-12, the school will offer a classical style of education for grades kindergarten through eight. It will be operated by a charter school management firm based in Texas.
Gaches argued that the charter’s application failed to meet requirements relating to community support, discipline and graduation.
“Obviously I’m disappointed, because we feel like we diligently vetted the application and that they didn’t meet the requirements of the law,” he said. “Obviously, the state school board disagreed with that.”
Representatives from both sides of the debate made their cases Thursday during a contentious hearing attended by 95 Seminole charter backers.
Supporters pointed to the need for higher-quality education in Seminole that prepares students for college and the changing workforce and gives families a choice in where they send their children.
Opponents argued that the charter was unnecessary because it would duplicate services provided by the Seminole school district. One speaker accused the state of wanting “to overturn the will of the people.”
“I fear that if there is a decision that overturns the unanimous decision of our school board, ... it’s going to send a message to not just our community but to school boards everywhere, especially in rural Oklahoma, that we really don’t control what’s going on,” said Marilyn Rainwater.