Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet to apply for charter school status

Emmet is again applying for charter school status.

In a special meeting of the Blevins School Board, held Monday, Aug. 30, Dr. Gene Ross, assistant superintendent, made the request.

He said Emmet had applied to be a charter school district last year, but politics got involved and the request was denied. "(Gov.) Mike Huckabee wanted to see the Emmet School close."

The school, he said, could have closed had Blevins not stepped in and made an agreement not to shut it down or consolidate it. Emmet was annexed into the Blevins District.

Ross said if the charter is approved, students at Emmet who don't want to participate can attend Blevins, and students at Blevins who would like to be involved in the charter school could. The Charter, he said, would be for the high school only, and wouldn't affect the elementary school.

The program Ross said Emmet wants to emulate is EdVision, out of Minnesota, which is project-based learning. Students earn credits through projects done, but also have to take core courses. "We want to apply again. We'd have regular class in the morning and charter classes in the afternoon. I feel this will improve test scores and learning."

Frank Henson, Emmet High School principal, gave the example of chemistry, saying students wouldn't attend a chemistry class, but would do chemistry projects. The projects would encompass upper level math skills as well as writing. "They would have to do research, interviews and make a public presentation. It can involve the entire student population, be an individual or group."

Henson said foreign languages would be electives and the EdVision program is funded by the Bill Gates foundation. The program, he added, is looking to expand into the South.

Jon Saladin, a member of the Board, said Emmet began researching this before the consolidation issue came about. "This would give those students who aren't considering college a strong background and make them ready to go to work."

Questions were raised about what would happen to the annexation should the Board give Emmet permission to apply and charter status be granted. Ross said it wouldn't do anything to the annexation. "Emmet wouldn't split with Blevins."

Blevins Superintendent Donnie Davis said there is a new law on the books stating if one school in the district offers something another doesn't and students want to take it, they have to be allowed to. "We'd need to organize transportation."

Emmet, Ross said, has a mini-bus and driver, so transporting the students wouldn't be a problem.

Should Emmet be approved as a charter school, Ross added, it could get extra money  possibly as much as $300,000.

There are similar schools in Little Rock, Saladin said, open to anyone who wants to participate.

The charter, if granted, Ross said, would only be for three years. If it didn't work, it wouldn't be renewed, or if Emmet didn't like it, the charter wouldn't be renewed.

Regardless, if the charter is approved, students will still be required to take End of Course exams and meet standards. The school, Ross said, would still be graded by the state, but research shows test scores go up for this type of charter.

Emmet, Ross said, could apply for a waiver and would then be able to hire non-certified personnel, or hire people based on their experience in a particular area or field.

The deadline to apply is October, while the state Board of Education won't decide until its April or May meeting.

While there was discussion among the Board members about the pros and cons and potential problems of Emmet becoming a charter school, Board President Dan Lauterbach brought it to a close by saying when the annexation occurred, it was with the understanding Emmet would be applying for charter status. "We knew the charter school application would happen."

From there the Board gave its approval for Emmet to apply for charter status.