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Education board rejects Haas Hall move to Fayetteville Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The state Board of Education said no Monday to a Northwest Arkansas charter school's request for permission to move to Fayetteville. Board members also approved a change of plans by a charter school in Humphrey and heard a presentation from legislators on the public school funding formula. The board voted unanimously to deny a request from Haas Hall Academy, an open-enrollment public charter school near Farmington, to move to Fayetteville, increase its enrollment cap from 120 to 350 students and add the eighth grade. Martin Schoppmeyer, director of the academy, said the school has applications from more students than it can accept under its current enrollment cap. With gas prices rising, the school would serve students better by being in a more densely populated area, he said. The board voted to deny the request after members objected that Schoppmeyer had not provided enough information about the cost of the move or the new building. The board voted 5-3 to grant a request from the School of Excellence, an open-enrollment public charter school in Humphrey that was approved in November, to change the supplier it will use for modular classrooms. James Young, director of the school, said the supplier the school initially planned to use has "changed financial agreements and banks and made it very difficult on us." Young said the upside of the change was that the new supplier would charge about $2,000 less than the old supplier would have charged. The downside was that the old agreement would have allowed the school to own the facility after five years, but the new agreement would simply be a lease, he said. Some board members complained that Young did not provide enough information for them to approve the change. Also Monday, state Sens. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, and David Bisbee, R-Rogers, and state Rep. Betty Pickett, D-Conway, spoke to the board about the school funding formula. Bisbee, who spoke by phone, urged the board to make sure school districts make proper use of funds earmarked to help low-income students. "You need to monitor that and monitor it close to make sure that they're spending that money on the real programs," he said. Bisbee also said the board should ensure that districts do not use alternative schools simply as a place for "boys with behavior problems and pregnant girls." "An alternative school is supposed to be a school where you are taught the same material in an alternative learning style. ... Don't let schools start discipline schools and call them alternative schools and collect that great big chunk of money for baby-sitting kids," said Bisbee, who is term-limited. |
