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Charter School Re-Rejected -- New Sardis Baptist Church Effort to Go to State Board

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 12:00 CST

By Halimah Abdullah abdullah@commercialappealcom

Twice they tried and twice they were denied.

New Sardis Baptist Church now has 15 days to appeal to the state in its bid to create the first charter school in the Shelby County system.

The Shelby County School board, which rejected the church's application in November, rejected the church's appeal Friday, again citing the lack of a transportation plan for special education students and budgetary mistakes. The church now can appeal to the Tennessee Board of Education.

"I knew they would resist us at all levels," said Rev. LaSimba Gray, New Sardis' pastor. "(Shelby County schools) didn't think they needed a charter school."

Gray's group said the proposed K-5, 260-student Hattie Bradley Charter School would help with overcrowding in the southeastern part of the county.

But in a surprise move Friday, county board members took a step to address that overcrowding by voting to lease a former Schnucks grocery store at Riverdale and Holmes for $339,130 a year.

In October, county officials rejected the idea of turning the store into a school because the original lease would have cost more than $37 million over 25 years.

The new lease is year-to-year. County officials said they didn't know how much it will cost to convert the space into a school. They hope to use the school for grades 8 and 9 beginning next fall.

State officials said New Sardis' application is the first since a a new law allows students who fail to make "adequate yearly progress" to attend charter schools, even if their school is performing well. In Shelby county, roughly 800 students fall into that category.

Officials with New Sardis and its partner, California-based EdFutures, weren't happy with Friday's rejection. They said they tweaked their application with the understanding they would have a chance to answer questions before Friday's vote. But Gray said his group wasn't informed about the vote.

County school officials showed copies of e-mail and certified- mail receipts as proof that everyone involved was properly informed.

"I'm sorry that it happened because we really expected him to be there," Webb said. "We were trying to be as helpful and as open as we could possible be."

Gray disagrees.

"Integrity and trust rest at the very foundation of effective public education," Gray said. "As far as I'm concerned, Dr. Webb lost that with me."

-Halimah Abdullah: 529-5806

Source: Commercial Appeal, The

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