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Plans Submitted for Local College-Prep Charter School

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 18:00 CDT

By Sheena Dooley, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Apr. 18--For the second time in less than a week, plans have been submitted to Ball State University for a new charter school in Fort Wayne, this one to focus on preparing students for college.

Ron Rutledge, director of the Fort Wayne Academy, a preschool, applied Friday to Ball State University to open the International Academy of Fort Wayne at 6901 S. Hanna St. Rutledge and four other area residents plan to contract with SABIS Educational Systems, a Minnesota-based for-profit company, to run the school, which would serve 612 students in kindergarten through sixth grade beginning in 2007-08.

"Definitely, there is a need," Rutledge said. "The number of high school graduates going on to college is very low in Fort Wayne."

The Associated Press last month reported that 71 percent of 2005 graduates in the region said they planned to go to college after graduation. According to the 2000 Census, 83.2 percent of people 25 and older in Fort Wayne are high school graduates, but only 19.4 percent are college graduates. Indiana's averages are virtually the same.

Rutledge's intentions were made public six days after local entrepreneur and philanthropist Don Willis reached a deal to purchase the YWCA campus on Wells Street, with plans to sell the property to Imagine Schools, an Arlington, Va.-based company that operates 60 facilities nationwide. If Ball State accepts the company's proposal, a charter school serving all grades and targeting high-achieving students could open as early as fall 2007.

Fort Wayne Community Schools spokeswoman Debbie Morgan said district officials would not comment on what two new charter schools in FWCS' boundaries might mean for the district. Although the state funds charter schools, they are exempt from some of the regulations governing traditional public schools.

Jon Olinger, a FWCS board member, said public-school officials have traditionally viewed charter schools as a threat because they siphon away students and the funding for them.

Fort Wayne's only charter school, Timothy L. Johnson Academy, opened in 2002. Its impact on local districts has been minimal. This year, 226 students enrolled at the school, down more than 50 from last year. Its students scored well below state and local averages on standardized state English and math tests, according to the Indiana Department of Education.

Both Olinger and FWCS board president Geoff Paddock said they support Willis' and Rutledge's proposals but worry about what they might mean for the district. Rutledge wants to eventually expand the International Academy to include up to 1,400 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. If only half those students came from FWCS, the district would lose more than $1 million in state support, Olinger said.

"That's a good chunk of change," he said. "It all hurts, and it all adds up."

Both schools would be good for the community, Olinger and Paddock said. Federal and state mandates calling for all students to master English and math, or make significant strides toward doing so, have prompted FWCS to focus its resources on struggling students. That means little funding is left for programs aimed at successful students. The charter schools would benefit those students, while pushing the district to improve its offerings to keep those students.

"We don't have the money to push those kids who are good to great," Olinger said. "If (the charter school) does pull kids, it's going to pull our brightest. If you are really looking out for what's good for the kids, it's not bad."

ABOUT CHARTER SCHOOLS: Charter schools are public, state-subsidized schools open to all students. They usually are sponsored by a university or college, which must make sure they follow state-mandated charter laws. In Indiana, sponsoring authorities include Ball State University and the mayor of Indianapolis. Charter schools can only be started by a nonprofit group or individual, but they can be run by for-profit management companies. Charter schools set their own achievement goals and aren't required to follow the state's budget and curriculum guidelines.

--Forty states and Washington, D.C., have charter-school laws. Indiana enacted its law in 2001.

--There are 3,600 charter schools nationwide and 29 in Indiana, seven of which opened this school year.

--Charter schools serve 7,013 Indiana students.

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF FORT WAYNE:

--What: A college-preparatory charter school that would serve 612 students in kindergarten through sixth grade beginning in 2007-08.

--Who: Fort Wayne resident and educator Ron Rutledge and four other area residents drafted the proposal for the school, which they submitted Friday to Ball State University. Minnesota-based SABIS Educational Systems would run the school, using its own college-preparatory curriculum. In 2002, Ball State officials denied a plan from Rutledge to open Fort Wayne Academy, a charter school for grades K-2.

--Where: Rutledge would put the school in a 75,000-square-foot building at 6901 S. Hanna St. The Works of Jesus Ministries Inc. owns the building, which recently underwent renovations.

ABOUT SABIS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS:

--The company is based in Eden Prairie, Minn.

--It operates seven schools in six states -- Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Arizona and Louisiana.

--Founded in 1886 in Lebanon, SABIS is a privately owned company that also operates schools overseas. Its focus in the United States is on college-preparatory charter schools.

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To see more of The News-Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.FortWayne.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.)

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