Harford County?s first two charter schools will seek approval at the Board of Education?s regular meeting tonight, but some still question whether both are ready.
Restoration Alternative Academy Public Charter School and the Ben Carson Public Charter School are both going before the board for the second time, said schools spokesman Don Morrison. The board already heard the applications in January 2005, but delayed approval because of concerns about legal issues and student enrollment.
“We believe charter schools are going to become part of the mosaic of public schools in the future,” said Superintendent Jacqueline Haas. “That?s why we?ve been hanging in there.”
The founding board of the Ben Carson School had to rework its entire application after the ouster of one of its members, who raised legal questions over ownership of the school?s concept, Haas said. Some questions remain, and Haas said she would recommend to the board that the application be denied again.
The application for Restoration Academy seemed closer to approval, Haas said. The founders of the school already worked with at-risk middle and high school students through state grants from the Department of Juvenile Services, she said, and have experience running a “storefront” counseling operation.
A charter with the county would create a “school within a school” ? a program for 30 at-risk eighth- and ninth-graders operating from Harford?s Center for Educational Opportunity at the old Aberdeen High School. However, the board needs the group to have nonprofit status in order to get a charter, Haas said.
A third proposed charter school, Eagle?s Wing Academy, also applied last year but was denied and asked to restart its organization and application from the beginning.
If you go
The Board of Education will vote on the charter schools? applications at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight in the schools administration building, 102 S. Hickory Ave., Bel Air.
