Company dropping Wake charter school to try to get new school approved in Union County

A charter school operator will withdraw its request for a new school in Wake County in hopes of winning state approval to open one in Union County.

Last week, the State Board of Education’s Democratic majority voted down the applications for American Leadership Academy-Monroe in Union County and Legacy Classical Academy in Rockingham County. They want to open in 2023.

On Monday, the N.C. Charter Schools Advisory Board voted for a second time to ask the state board to approve both applications. As part of the new votes, the advisory board tied it to Charter One’s offer to withdraw its application to open a 2,050-student charter school in Garner in 2024.

The state board had raised concerns about Charter One rapidly expanding in North Carolina and how both schools would be managed by for-profit companies. Several CSAB members complained Monday that charter schools are being held to an unfair standard compared to traditional public schools.

“The debate that was held last week at the state board level of profiting off education, I am tired of that,” said Bruce Friend, CSAB vice chairman. “That has been a standard line used since the first charter schools opened up in the ‘80s.

“We’re holding charter schools to some level of how and where they can spend their money that we don’t ask of any of the traditional public schools.”

But Eric Sanchez accused his colleagues of looking at the applications with “rose-colored glasses.” He said there’s an inherent conflict they need to ask about when a for-profit company is making all the management decisions for a charter school.

“I’m going to ask about a group that decides to come into our state in a really fast manner and has, to me, multiple red flags,” said Sanchez, the lone CSAB member to vote Monday against the two applications.

The disagreement between both boards over the rejected charters reflects a growing partisan split over charter schools.

The majority of the State Board of Education is made up of appointees of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. All of the CSAB members are charter school advocates, and the majority are appointed by the Republican-led General Assembly.

For-profit management companies

Charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are exempt from some of the rules that traditional public schools must follow. There are more than 200 charter schools across the state.

Student enrollment in charter schools is almost 20% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, EdNC recently reported. At the same time, enrollment in traditional public schools is still below pre-pandemic levels.

Groups applying for charter schools in North Carolina have to be non-profit entities. But they can contract with a for-profit organization to manage the school. Some states only allow charter schools to contract with non-profit management organizations.

Management organizations are allowed to collect fee payment of up to 15% of revenues that charters receive. The for-profit management companies make money not just through fees, but often by providing school buildings that the local board uses.

Bartley Danielsen, a CSAB member, said he was surprised and discouraged that the state board would be reluctant to have businesses advising charter schools to help make them better.

“For the State Board of Education to express hostility to for-profit businesses, I think that’s a big mistake,” Danielsen said.

‘Very proud’ of charter school work

Legacy Classical in Rockingham County would be managed by American Traditional Academies, a new company hoping to establish charter schools in the state.

American Leadership Academy-Monroe would be the latest charter school managed by Charter One in North Carolina. Charter One and American Leadership Academy were founded by Glenn Way, who has made millions of dollars building, selling and leasing properties to the charter schools he runs in Arizona, The Arizona Republic has reported.

Sanchez questioned Way about the Arizona Republic article during Monday’s meeting. Way said that the Arizona Republic story was wrong and had overstated how much money was made by his companies.

“I’m very proud of the work that I’ve done over the last 15, 16, 17 years in charter schools,” Way said.

Way says he’ll never be involved in a school unless he’s managing it because the risk is too high of it not being run properly. Way said his schools buy clothing from a company owned by Charter One to protect the brand.

But Way also said he’s sold some buildings back to schools below appraised values and provided $8 million in free rent to schools over the last 16 years.

In an effort to save the Monroe school, Charter One offered Monday to withdraw the application for the Garner school that CSAB had previously recommended approving.

Support for Wake charter

Earlier on Monday, the advisory board unanimously recommended approval of Heritage Leadership Collegiate Academy to open in Wake County in 2024. The school would have the same director as Heritage Leadership Academy in Bertie County, whose charter was revoked by the state board in 2017.

The state board had cited academic issues and non-compliance issues when closing the Bertie school.

Kenzie Bazemore, who was the director of the Bertie school, will be the director of the new school. Bazemore said they had learned their lessons from the prior experience and that a new charter school serving minority and low-income students is badly needed in Wake County.

The Wake County school system is opposing the new charter school, citing the closure of the Bertie County school.

“There is nothing in the application that gives us confidence the problems that occurred at that school wouldn’t be repeated in a new Wake County charter school,” Wake school board chairwoman Lindsay Mahaffey and Superintendent Catty Moore wrote in a letter to CSAB.

Advisory board members said they were impressed by Heritage’s application and agreed they wouldn’t hold what happened to the Bertie school against them.

“Mistakes were made and they recognize that,” said Friend, the CSAB member.

The state board will consider Heritage Collegiate’s application early next year.