2 New Charter Schools Proposed: Imagine Schools May Add MASTer Academy Sites.

By Phil Taylor, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Aug. 4–If two new charter school proposals submitted to Ball State University on Wednesday are accepted, Fort Wayne may soon have the first charter schools in Indiana to feed into a charter high school.

Imagine Schools, a Virginia-based education company that operates 39 charter schools across the country, submitted a proposal to open two new elementary charter schools, one likely to be built in southwest Fort Wayne and the other at an undetermined location, said Jason Bryant, the company’s regional vice president.

“The main thing I want to do is provide more opportunity to parents,” Bryant said.

Charter schools are independent public schools less constrained by state curriculum requirements, but also held to higher terms of accountability. They operate under five-year charters, or contracts, which so far have been conferred in the state by Ball State University.

It hasn’t been decided whether new or existing facilities would be used to house the schools, said Bryant, who also submitted proposals for two new charter schools to be opened in Indianapolis. The charter school that Imagine already operates at 2000 N. Wells St. — Imagine MASTer Academy — uses buildings the company acquired from the YWCA in July 2006. The YWCA relocated to 1610 Spy Run Ave.

The two proposed schools for Fort Wayne, Imagine MASTer Academy Project Three and Imagine MASTer Academy Southwest, would be opened with the intention that students would feed into the company’s existing Imagine MASTer Academy. The Imagine MASTer (an acronym standing for math, art, science and technology) Academy has enrolled more than 500 students in grades K-6, and is set to open its doors Aug. 22. Bryant plans to add a grade per year, eventually having a high school by serving grades K-12, so the school is able to have students feed into it from the two proposed charter schools.

“It seems to be going well,” said Larry Gabbert, director of the Office of Charter Schools at Ball State, who oversees the status of Ball State’s 19 sponsored charter schools in Indiana. “They have a beautiful site and an experienced principal.”

The two proposed schools would serve about 500 or more students and cost about $10 million to open, Bryant said.

It remains to be seen however, whether the proposed “feeder” charter system is consistent with Indiana law, Gabbert said. To receive state and local tax money, a charter school is required to be independently operated and use an independent admissions process.

“We’re going to have to learn a little more about what his plan is and how it’s consistent with the law,” Gabbert said.

Ball State is reviewing the 300- to 400-page proposals. University officials will meet with all charter-school applicants Aug. 20-24, to discuss the specifics of each proposal, before announcing who will be asked to submit second proposals. Second proposals would be due Oct. 8, and a final decision would be made by Dec. 14. About 50 percent of initial proposals move on to the second stage of consideration, Gabbert said.

According to Bryant, the Imagine MASTer Academy receives about 60 percent as many tax dollars per student as Fort Wayne Community Schools, but makes up for it by avoiding administration costs. The annual cost of operating its North Wells Street school amounts to about $10,000 per student, he said.

Allen County’s other charter school is Timothy L. Johnson Academy on South Anthony Boulevard.

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