Charter school gets month to solve woes

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, Oct. 15, 2004 | 9:32 a.m.

A struggling Clark County charter school facing closure won a one-month reprieve Thursday.

The Clark County School Board voted to give Clark County Team Academy, a distance education charter high school, 30 days to show it had solved a myriad of problems ranging from insufficient student records to shortfalls in its curriculum.

The charter school was notified in June by the district that it was out of compliance in several areas, including a failure to contribute to the state's employee retirement fund for its workers and a lack of licensed teachers as members of its governing body.

Clark County Team Academy was given the required 90-day grace period to correct the deficiencies. That meant Oct. 16 was the earliest date the district could force the school's closure.

During the summer district officials urged the charter school not to open for the 2003-04 academic year, which began Aug. 30, saying the problems could not be fixed in time to meet the deadline. They said that by opening the charter school would only make it more difficult for its students, who would likely have to find another school to attend in October, district officials said.

The School Board voted to grant the extension after several parents, students and members of the school's staff pleaded with them not to revoke the charter.

Clark County School Board member Sheila Moulton said Thursday she was "deeply concerned" that the charter school had continued to enroll new students despite being warned that closure was possible.

But in an e-mail sent to School Board members, one of the charter school's students described how she completed an entire semester's course in a single week after just 10 hours of online instruction, Moulton said.

Craig Kadlub, director of public affairs for the district, said a review of student transcripts showed some individuals were leaving the charter school with fewer academic credits than they had when they enrolled while others were earning an "astounding" number of credits within a brief period.

The decision over whether or not to continue operations split the school's governing body, with three of the seven members resigning Aug. 26 after arguing unsuccessfully for closure.

Frank Mitchell, the charter school's administrator, said Thursday school's financial problems were the result of late per-pupil funding payments from the state, rather than oversights by his staff. The school is now fully in compliance, Mitchell said. The school's student records are in the process of being updated and will meet the requirements within 30 days, Mitchell said.