Update: It's only fair that I point out that Mendenhall Country wasn't the only school with cross-representation or families ties. With College Preparatory and Leadership Academy of High Point, three of the board members are family members by marriage (Michelle Johnson, the Rev. Tacuma Johnson and Simon Johnson). Simon Johnson also would serve on the board of directors and as temporary executive director of the school.
Three advisory council members also abstained from voting on the Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter Academy because of conflicts of interest.
Second, I talked to Paul Norcross and he said the Mendenhall board of directors, which includes him as a member, plans to re-apply in April.He clarified that has his wife, Kim, would only draw one salary as superintendent of the two schools. The board would hire two other princpals.
Third, the proposed Triangle Math and Science Academy will be modeled after the Triad Math and Science Academy in Greensboro. Ali Tombak is a founding board member with both schools.
Find all of the applications here.
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Nine proposed charter schools are another step closer to opening in the fall after the state charter school advisory council interviewed applicants this week.
Two Guilford applications were recommended to the State Board of Education, which will discuss them next month and vote in March: Cornerstone Charter Academy in Greensboro and The College Preparatory and Leadership Academy of High Point. You can read more about those recommendations in a story that ran in Wednesday's paper (not online).
Other proposed schools forwarded to the state board:
- Bear Grass Charter School (Martin County)
- Corvian Community School (Mecklenburg)
- The Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter Academy (Orange)
- North East Carolina Preparatory (Edgecombe)
- Research Triangle High School (Durham)
- Triangle Math and Science Academy (Wake)
- Water’s Edge Village School (Currituck)
(I find it interesting that Guilford could potentially have more new charter schools this year than any other county.)
Mendenhall Country Day School in Jamestown did not make the cut. Council members had substantial concerns about how the school would operate and they questioned the board's budget, educational plan, bylaws and potential conflicts of interest. For example, Kim Norcross, who is principal of Phoenix Academy, would run both schools as superintendent and she would oversee Mendenhall's management company, Phoenix Systems (which doesn't yet exist). Plus, her husband, Paul, would serve on boards of both schools. He already sits on the advisory council and chairs a pro-charter schools group in the state. (See update above for clarification.)
Keep in mind that the Mendenhall group could re-apply in April to open in 2013. Joel Medley, who oversees the Office of Charter Schools, said he expects another 50 to 55 applications at that time, based on the level of interest. More than 100 people from across the state registered to attend a related training last week and some of them were turned away because there wasn't enough room.
The council did spend some time discussing the whole issue of conflicts of interest. This is important because the council will be recommending policies to the State Board of Education as well as legislation related to charter schools. I listened in on the meetings so I could not identify every speaker, but I believe council member Alfred Dillon said, "I think we're going to be under a lot of scrutiny. We have to maintain arms length from anything that smacks of conflict of interest."
We'll see.