School Board rejects charter request

Friday, March 1, 2002 | 9:32 a.m.

The Clark County School Board on Thursday rejected a proposal by Silver State Academy to open a charter school.

School officials said the applicants, based in Texas, had no link to the community, would fail to help underserved students and could duplicate efforts already in place in Clark County.

District officials also said the California controller's office found "substantial non-compliance issues and violations of law at multiple sites" at sites operated by the company in that state.

"We need to know a lot more about the organizing committee," Superintendent Carlos Garcia said. "If they won't disclose who they are, then we don't want them," he said.

A representative of Silver State said the management company offered personalized education plans for each student, individual instruction and teachers who serve as mentors.

Academy representative Charlie Lincoln said each learning center would serve between 100 and 200 students, and that student-teacher ratios would be 18 to 1, he said.

Lincoln, though, wanted a detailed explanation regarding the board's decision. "I'm not sure why we are being rejected," he said.

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