The Chesapeake Science Point Charter School will hold on to its charter for now, but Anne Arundel school officials said their patience is waning.
The 2-year-old school, plagued by negative audits, was put on notice again Wednesday, when school board member Eugene Peterson introduced a motion to revoke its charter.
Even though the motion failed, the board passed a motion tethering the Hanover school?s future to Superintendent Kevin Maxell?s recommendations.
“We do not intend to invest the kind of time and personal resources that we have been to help them meet compliance issues, but we are willing to let them see if they can do it on their own or not,” Maxwell said.
The nut of the recommendations places the school on probation through the next school year as it weans itself off the public school system and proves its financial health.
This year, the school has been kept afloat by about $135,000 in donations, but charter school officials said the growing pains were over.
The school?s budget, curriculum, facilities and staffing are finally aligned, said Spear Lancaster, CSP board vice president.
The motion failed ? only Peterson and board member Konrad Wayson voted in favor ? but Lancaster said he was “very comfortable” with the superintendent?s requests.
“I think we?re on the same page,” Lancaster said. “I don?t want to say we?re going to ace it, but we?re going to be close.”
Peterson was unconvinced.
“No other public school in Anne Arundel demands this kind of supervision. That?s a big problem,” he said. “I reluctantly believe this failed experiment should end ? and should end today before we throw more resources down the drain.”
Parents of students at the school, a college preparatory program focusing on science, mathematics and technology, said the board was right to demand more of CSP?s management, but feared the school?s academic successes were being minimized.
Jane Andraka, whose son is a seventh-grader at CSP, said, “I appreciate the board holding us accountable, but I don?t want what the teachers are doing for the students to be overshadowed.”
