School Board rejects charter school sponsor

Friday, April 1, 2005 | 9:50 a.m.

The Clark County School Board voted Thursday to reject a request for charter school sponsorship, citing concerns over the track record of a professional education management organization and a consultant connected to the application.

Organizers of the proposed Strict Discipline Academy, which sought to serve at-risk minority high schoolers, have 90 days to revise their application and return to the School Board for a second vote. If the application is again rejected, the school's organizers would have to ask the State Board of Education for sponsorship.

School Board members said they based their vote on a report by the district's charter school review team which cited numerous areas of concern. The president of the educational management organization and the consultant, a married couple based in Michigan, helped the local governing body of the proposed academy draft their application. School district staff learned the organization and the consultant were connected to a failed charter school in their home state, ordered shut down by the Michigan Department of Education after just six months of operation.

Richard Blue, manager of the Southern Nevada Investment Board and a member of the charter school's governing body, said his group planned to come back to the school board with a revised application, dropping its association with the educational management organization and consultant, if necessary.