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School system to pitch charter school ideaBy LINDA CHION-KENNEY © St. Petersburg Times, published November 17, 1998 This time, though, the group seeking the charter is the school system. And the students' main subject would be the building itself. Once cool to the idea of charter schools, school administrators have now embraced the concept, eager to try something new without the weight of overly restrictive paperwork and regulations. School officials want to fill the D.W. Waters Memorial Center with high school students in danger of dropping out who plan to pursue careers in construction. Students would be paid apprentices working to fix the building. They would be graded on how well they fix plumbing, hang drywall, lay bricks and otherwise renovate the aging building, once the home of Hillsborough and Jefferson high schools and George Washington Junior High. Charter schools operate with the approval of local school boards but do not have to follow many of the same rules and regulations as public schools. The idea is to encourage innovation. Tonight's vote would give school officials the go-ahead to file the formal charter school application, due Feb. 1, which the School Board would have to approve. The center now houses offices and the Jefferson Alumni Museum. "Everybody wins," said Jim Hamilton, assistant superintendent of operations. "We help kids who lack traditional motivation to succeed in school. We help the school district by creating a new facility where one was underutilized. And we help the industry by generating a stream of workers that's desperately needed." Florida's charter school movement would win, too, said Tracey Bailey, state director of public school choice and charters. Charter schools get the same amount of money per student as other schools, plus $50,000 in federal grants to cover start-up expenses. Florida has about 9,800 charter school students, with 780 in Hillsborough. All seven Hillsborough charter schools are run by groups or individuals outside the school system, and most enroll students with special needs. Florida joined the national charter school movement in 1996 with five pilot programs. Today, 74 charters are running, with another 10 approved but not yet open. None has been opened by a school district, Bailey said. But a few school districts are working on plans similar to Hillsborough's. Another six are looking to convert existing schools into charters. Hamilton hopes to open the D.W. Waters charter school for up to 250 students by August. The idea grew out of a program started by a group of East Bay High School students who worked last year on the new Riverview High School. This year, students from Chamberlain and Hillsborough high schools are working at Coleman Middle School, which is closed for renovations. "We know as well as anybody else the opportunities of charter school legislation," Hamilton said. "If the law is a good idea for entrepreneurs outside the school system, then there's no good reason why it wouldn't be a great idea for the entrepreneurs we have inside the school system." Last year, the state's charter school law was amended to include school boards on the list of groups allowed to convert existing public schools to charters. Municipalities were added to the list of those allowed to start charter schools from scratch. The amendment also doubled the number of charters schools allowed in Hillsborough, from 14 to 28. While the school system can design its own charter school, outsiders must be included on the board of directors to avoid a conflict of interest, Bailey said. Depending on their rank and duties, school system employees can sit on the board or serve as advisory members, he said.
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AMPA -- The Hillsborough County School Board will be presented tonight with plans to turn a dilapidated building on Highland Avenue into the county's eighth charter school.
