Glades school for the arts granted charter
County board delays vote on two other applications.
The Glades region won’t have to wait to get a charter school for the arts, but the Palm Beach County School Board hit pause on plans to approve two other charter schools Wednesday.
In a move proposed by board member Frank Barbieri, the group will delay the vote until after it can discuss the ramifications the new schools would have in an ongoing feud with the state about building new schools when thousands of seats sit unfilled across the county.
A workshop will be scheduled in mid-November.
For almost a year, the state has refused to sign off on the district’s plans to build an elementary, middle and high school, arguing the district has too many open seats. It has so far been deaf to the district’s reply that those seats are often far from the crowding that plagues scores of other schools.
While charter schools are run with the public money, the state does not regulate how many seats they add to a district. Charters are free to build where they want — including next to crowded district schools — without state permission. And yet, when a charter opens, the district loses students and is left with more empty seats, Barbieri noted.
The question, however, is whether the board can deny a charter because of the district’s capacity issues. The board has already spent two years in court in an attempt to stop two other charter schools from opening. The board voted down the charters in 2014 and 2015 on the grounds that they weren’t “innovative.” More than a year after losing their first appeal of that case, the board resolved in August to file a second.
The charter schools that still await approval are:
Somerset Academy of the Arts: A combined elementary and middle school expected to be located in the Wellington area. The school says it aims to provide an “arts-integrated curriculum.”
The school would be the county’s sixth Somerset campus. The Somerset schools are managed by Academia, the state’s largest for-profit charter school operator. It aims to enroll 906 students by its fifth year of operation.
SLAM Academy High School Palm Beach: This high school would operate on a campus near West Palm Beach alongside two sister schools: SLAM Middle School and Somerset Academy Lakes.
The school allows students to study sports medicine; sports broadcasting and journalism; or sports marketing, entertainment arts and management. It would be the county’s third SLAM campus.
Like the Somerset schools, the SLAM schools are managed by Academia. The school aims to enroll 800 students by its fifth year.
The board considered a third charter, Covenant Arts Academy, vital to filling a need for some of the county’s most remote students.
“The nearest arts middle school option for students in the Glades region is 39 miles away and is an audition-based magnet school,” the school wrote in its charter application. “These geographical and access challenges significantly limit potential access for interested students in the Glades region.”
Board members agreed, approving the school unanimously.
The combined elementary and middle school is expected to open in Belle Glade and promises to integrate arts into all of its classes. It aims to enroll 590 students by its fifth year and would instruct students in music, dance and drama.
Board members rejected two charter applications from Academic Solutions Academy. The schools proposed to offer flexible computer-based learning for students at risk of dropping out.
District officials argued that the schools’ proposals do not meet the school board’s standards.
When the school year began in August, 48 charter schools were operating in the county. Covenant and the two schools awaiting approval said they intended to open in August, but they would have the right to postpone their opening if necessary.