Tapestry Park Charter School Forced to Close

By S. Brady Calhoun, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Oct. 12–Tapestry Park Charter School ends its school year today.

Parents were informed at a Tapestry Park School Board meeting Tuesday night that the school could not stay open because of financial trouble.

Meanwhile, the school’s former principal, Antonius Barnes, filed a civil complaint on Tuesday at the Bay County Courthouse to get his job back. The suit claims that the Tapestry Park School Board made the decision to “fire” him in a closed-door, unadvertised meeting and that the decision is invalid.

Under Florida’s Sunshine Law, the public must be notified in advance of all school board meetings.

“Am I the only one who doesn’t know how we got here?” Rob Anson, the parent of a fourth-grader at Tapestry Park, asked during Tuesday’s meeting. “The real losers here are the children.”

The school has about $28,000 in the bank and about $107,000 in debts, said Mark Tanney, chairman of Tapestry Park’s School Board.

In recent weeks, parents have given about $7,000 and pledged another $28,000 in hopes of keeping the school open. But the school needed more than donations, it also needed a growth in enrollment.

The school gets money from the state based on the number of students. School organizers planned for about 120 students, but opened with 80. On Tuesday, the school had less than 60, Tanney said.

“By all indications, right now, I don’t see how we can stay open,” Tanney said. “We can’t keep operating without any clear way of paying our bills. We probably shouldn’t have gone on this long.”

He promised to give back any money that was donated by parents.

After the school opened on Aug. 18 to 80 students, Tanney said, Barnes spent money like the enrollment was perfect.

“We didn’t curtail spending based on enrollment,” he said.

On Sept. 20, Tanney said, the Tapestry Park School Board voted to do away with Barnes’ position and administrative assistant Vicki Brown’s position to free up money. Two teachers followed Barnes out and parents began removing their children.

Two members of the three-member Tapestry Park School Board were present Tuesday evening: Tanney and David Clement. They voted to “postpone” the charter school until next school year.

The duo seemed prepared to terminate the charter completely but a group of parents wanted to give Tapestry Park another shot next school year. Before the board voted, Tanney asked for the audience to vote on whether to try to open the school again next year. There were about 20 parents and teachers in attendance and all raised their hands. Parents said they and their children loved Tapestry Park’s small classes, uniforms and curriculum. Kyle Brown, the parent of a fourth-grader, suggested that the school reopen with a different name. “Bay Haven II,” he said. Janet Jones, the parent of a third-grader took her child out of Tapestry Park earlier this month. “I saw the writing on the wall,” she said. Tanney said the school failed, partly because of parents who badmouthed the operation and local schools that kept enrolling kids even when the schools were over capacity. “We can’t say enough about the parents (who stayed),” Tanney said. “We also can’t say enough about the people who tried to tear us down.” Tapestry Park’s students now must find a new public or private school. The teachers will have to do the same, Tanney said.

It is unclear what the school district will do with the school’s resources.

Under Florida law, charter schools are public schools run by parents or other groups. However, charter schools must have a contract with the local school district before opening.

The School Board could reject the board’s motion to postpone the charter until next year, Tanney said. Under the contract, everything left, from books to equipment to money, will become district property.

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