5 NC charter schools approved for 2021 opening, but new school in Charlotte rejected
Five new charter schools were approved Thursday to open in 2021, but state education leaders also rejected an advisory board’s recommendation to open a new school in Charlotte.
The State Board of Education approved Oak Grove Charter Academy, which plans to open off I-85 near the Gorman community in Durham. The board also approved Huntersville Charter High School and Telra Institute in Mecklenburg County, P.E.A.K. Academy Charter School in Buncombe County and City Charter Academy in Guilford County.
But the state board voted against approving Clara Science Academy, a K-6 school whose leaders wanted to open in East Charlotte. The N.C. Charter Schools Advisory Board had recommended that Clara be approved.
“It doesn’t feel like we’re adding high-quality seats into the mix for a population that I understand why they’re trying to serve,” state board member JB Buxton said Wednesday during the discussion of the applications. “But I have not been convinced of the strength of the plan.”
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are exempt from some of the rules that traditional public schools must follow. For instance, they’re not required to provide school bus service or to participate in the federal school lunch program. They also have more flexibility in how they spend their money, don’t have to follow the school calendar law and don’t need all their teachers to be licensed.
Of the 196 charter schools currently open, 32 are in Mecklenburg and 14 are in Durham. The number of charter schools has increased statewide since the Republican-led General Assembly removed the 100-school limit in 2011.
Fourteen groups had applied to open charter schools statewide in 2021. But only six, including Clara, were recommended for approval by the Charter Schools Advisory Board.
Questions raised about Clara Science Academy
The state board asked for a second look at Clara because of the close 6-4 vote by the advisory board in December. The advisory board gave Clara a 6-1 vote in February, but Buxton noted that several of the people who had voted no weren’t at that second meeting.
Buxton said he had questions about the strength of Clara’s academic plan and that the area where it will be located is oversaturated with charter schools.
Both the Durham and Wake County school systems had sent letters opposing Oak Grove Charter Academy. Durham school leaders said approving the K-8 Oak Grove could lead to further white flight from district schools and harm Glenn Elementary.
But Oak Grove’s leaders said they could do a better job than Durham Public Schools in educating students. Oak Grove would be managed by National Heritage Academies, a for-profit company based in Michigan whose North Carolina charter schools include Research Triangle Charter Academy in Durham.
Oak Grove’s leaders are being required to change the school’s name to avoid confusing it with Oak Grove Elementary in Durham Public Schools.
It’s no guarantee that all five new charter schools will open in 2021, since they’ll have plenty of work to do such as getting their campuses ready.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 6:22 PM with the headline "5 NC charter schools approved for 2021 opening, but new school in Charlotte rejected."
