Charter school OK’d

Terry Webster

Friday, May 25, 2001 | 11:29 a.m.

The Clark County School board has unanimously -- and reluctantly -- granted conditional approval for a new charter school to open this fall.

The Gen. Colin Powell Charter School would serve 350 students in grades kindergarten through fifth, with an emphasis on smaller classes, school uniforms and discipline, organizers said.

Board members said they want all charter schools to succeed. But they also said they are a bit wary after a charter school last fall folded and sent some 80 students back to regular classrooms.

Board member Sheila Moulton asked organizers to pull out if, come fall, they feel they won't be able to sustain the school for at least a full year.

"I'd rather have that than to put kids through anything like we had before," she said.

Organizers said they won't allow that to happen.

Board member Susan Brager-Wellman said the Nevada Department of Education should be handling requests for charter schools, not local school boards.

"The state needs to step up to the plate on this," she said.

Techworld, a Washington D.C.-based operation, closed just nine weeks after opening in Clark County. The firm's schools in several other cities in the country were plagued by problems, as well.

One of the problems with Techworld here was its inability to secure an adequate facility.

Organizers of the charter school are working to secure a site near Desert Inn and Mojave. But the deal is not finalized. The school must provide proof that it has a facility before it can open, board members said.

Craig Kadlub, who oversees charter schools for the district, said he felt comfortable with recommending this charter school to the board.

The school will be modeled after the Colin Powell Academy in Detroit. The academy has been in operation for five years, said Rev. Ellis Smith, founder and president of the school.

Powell is the U.S. Secretary of State and was the 12th Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993.