County Board to Vote Today on Charter School

By Ruma Banerji Kumar banerji@commercialappealcom

The Shelby County school board will vote today on whether to open the suburban district’s first charter school.

The application came in late last month for a K-5, 260-student school. It would be housed in a building owned by New Sardis Baptist Church on Holmes, in the eastern part of the county.

The board is likely to vote it down because Supt. Bobby Webb and his curriculum head, Judy Ostner, have raised serious concerns about the school’s academic rigor.

“Based on the dialog, I don’t think we’ll be approving it,” school board chairman David Pickler said Wednesday.

Before this year, only students from so-called failing schools could transfer to a charter school.

But a new change in the law says students who fail to make “adequate yearly progress” may attend charters, even if their school is performing well.

The Memphis City Schools system has approved 10 charters, which get public money but are more autonomous than traditional public schools.

If not approved, New Sardis has 15 days to make changes and appeal the decision to the school board. The group can also choose to reapply next year.