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Effort to open another charter school
By HAROLD GWIN
YOUNGSTOWN
There’s an effort to open another charter school in the same 1833 Market St. location as Eagle Heights Academy, the city’s largest charter school, which will close in June as directed by the state.
The new school, tentatively being dubbed South Side Academy, would serve the same demographic group of K-8 children and would have the same sponsor — the Toledo- based Ohio Council of Community Schools, said the Rev. Kenneth Simon, president of the Eagle Heights school board.
The Rev. Mr. Simon said he and perhaps one of the other four current board members also will serve on the board of the new school.
The state, which directed Eagle Heights to close this year because it earned a rating of academic emergency on each of its last two annual state local report cards, must approve a charter for the new school, Mr. Simon said. The state is expected to act by May 15, he said.
An Ohio Department of Education spokesman confirmed that the closing will occur.
Meanwhile, the school enacted another round of staff cuts last week that employees said affected 10 teachers and some support staff as well as John Booher, the school’s chief executive officer since 2008. The reductions followed some support-staff cuts in January, Mr. Simon said.
The latest cuts will save between $200,000 and $400,000 in the school’s $8 million budget, he said.
He confirmed that Booher has resigned, denying that the CEO was asked to leave.
There was no guarantee that he would have a position in the new school, and he chose to step down now, saving the school some money. Booher had done an outstanding job, and student test scores were improving, Mr. Simon said, adding, “We hated to see him leave.”
He said the school had projected an enrollment of more than 800 children this year but has about 750, and cuts were needed to trim the budget so the school can end the year in the black. Statistics provided by the Ohio Department of Education showed the school had about 75 teachers this year. Rising employee insurance costs also were a factor, Mr. Simon.
Those still on the job as well as those who have been laid off can apply for positions with the new charter school, he said.
The reduction in teaching ranks last week resulted in classroom restructuring. Where there might have been four classes of perhaps 17 students each in a particular grade level, now there are three with perhaps 22 students each, he said. The staff is adequate for the remainder of the year, he said.
Eagle Heights is trying to retain its student body for the new charter school. The plan is to build on academic improvements that have begun to be evident at Eagle Heights, Mr. Simon said.