Eagle Heights vows to fight state order to close in 2010

By Harold Gwin

Administrators of the charter school call recent change in state law unfair.

YOUNGSTOWN — The state has ordered the largest charter school in the city to close permanently at the end of this school year.

The directive that Eagle Heights Academy, 1833 Market St., must shut down came from the Ohio Department of Education after the school was ranked in academic emergency for a second consecutive year on its 2009 local report card issued by the state in late August.

The school, which opened in 1998 in the former South High School building, intends to fight the closure order.

A recent change in state law on charter schools stipulates that any public charter school in academic emergency for two of the last three years must be closed. The rule is retroactive and contains no forgiveness clause, according to a statement released by the school.

Eagle Heights also was rated in academic emergency on its 2008 report card and was in academic watch on its 2007 report card.

The previous state rule required three of the last four years in academic emergency before closure would be ordered.

A total of 16 charter schools across the state got the latest notice, and, Eagle Heights, with some 700 children in K-8, wasn’t the only local one.

The Academy of Arts and Humanities on Elm Road in Warren got the same notification, but Lisa Burgess, the school principal, said the notice appears to have been made in error.

Academy of Arts and Humanities, with 300 students in K-12, hasn’t been in academic emergency since its 2007 report card, she said.

It improved to academic watch in 2008 and was rated in continuous improvement this year. It also met Adequate Yearly Progress goals and other academic standards on the 2009 report card, Burgess said.

Mosaica Education, headquartered in New York City, is the curriculum manager for the school and is working with the state to get the closure order lifted, she said. Two other local charter schools also follow the Mosaica curriculum: Arts and Sciences Academy in Warren and Youngstown Academy of Excellence, Rigby Street, Youngstown.

In a prepared statement, Eagle Heights administrators agreed that accountability and performance are important, but said the retroactive nature of the law is unfair.

The school has been taking steps to improve, going through an administrative change in 2008-09 that included the hiring of John Booher as chief executive officer. The school implemented changes last year and this year and has grant money funding a behavior- modification program for parents and students, an enrichment-study program for students who are dropped off early and a positive-action program in which teachers speak to students about appropriate behavior, the statement said. These changes and improvements show real promise if allowed to continue, the school said.

Achievement test data from the 2008-2009 school year shows improvement in math scores in all grades but sixth and improvement in reading scores in third, fourth and seventh grades, according to the school.

The administration and board members are looking for ways to keep the school operating and are examining all possible options, including potential legal action, a spokesman said.

Lydia Pettway is a parent who has had five children attend Eagle Heights. One is still there, a fifth-grader.

All have done very well there, she said, noting two are now enrolled at Youngstown State University and two others are at Youngstown East High School.

Pettway said she is concerned about the state order but remains optimistic.

“I don’t think it’s going to close,” she said, saying it makes no sense to close a very good educational institution that helps kids beyond their school work. Eagle Heights reaches out to the community, senior citizens and more, she said.

Pettway is a member of the school’s Parent Teacher Community Organization and vowed school supporters will do all they can to keep it open.

gwin@vindy.com