School secures a home

The Lowcountry's first regional charter school for gifted students has found a home in North Charleston.

After months of searching, Palmetto Scholars Academy signed a three-year lease to open next August in the Child and Family Development Center building at the former Charleston Naval base. School district officials have not yet decided where the center will be next school year.

The charter school will be open to middle school students across the state, but its 216 attendees likely will come from Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. The school's curriculum has been designed for gifted and talented students, but the school does not have an admissions test, and students do not have to be considered gifted to apply.

The push to open this type of charter school began when Stacey Lindbergh, chairwoman of the charter school's committee, saw what she said were the needs of gifted students not being met in traditional public schools.

Since then, many parents of local gifted students have reached out to her and asked to be involved in this effort, she said.

They chose the North Charleston site because it is centrally located and is close to the major arteries of Interstates 526 and 26. Organizers wanted to open in an area that was as close to each of the surrounding counties as possible because of its regional attendance zone, she said.

Palmetto Scholars Academy is able to accept students from more than one county because it received its charter from the South Carolina Public Charter School District. The downside of receiving approval from the state district is that the charter school won't receive as much money as charter schools approved by local school boards.

The only funding Palmetto Scholars will receive comes from state and federal sources; schools approved through local school boards receive that plus local money.

Palmetto Scholars will pay roughly $4,000 in monthly rent, which was one of the best deals the school's leadership could find, Lindbergh said. They're already planning fundraising events and lobbying local lawmakers to increase their funding.

"The state of South Carolina established this public charter school district, and it needs to be funded fairly and equitably with other public school students," Lindbergh said.

Only two of the seven schools in the statewide district are traditional, brick and mortar buildings; the others are virtual, online schools. The brick and mortar charter schools have had substantial community support and been creative in their budgeting, said Wayne Brazell, superintendent for the state charter district.

One of the schools has volunteers who cut its grass and another has volunteers who provide most of their information technology support. The statewide district sent letters to all lawmakers last week asking them to more than double the amount allocated for its students.

"The difference between surviving and not surviving is just razor-thin," Brazell said. "They're constantly in a battle. We'll work with whatever we're given, but I'm afraid we're going to lose all of the schools unless we get some kind of help."

Lindbergh said she expects to outgrow the North Charleston building by the school's second year, and the plan is to use mobile classrooms. She wants to be conservative with the school's money and prove to the public that it can produce quality outcomes, she said.

The charter school will accept student applications until Jan. 31.

If you go

Palmetto Scholars Academy will host information sessions for parents and students interested in learning more about the charter school. The meetings will be:

--Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Dorchester County library in Summerville.

--Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Dorchester County library in Summerville.

--Dec. 21 at the Charleston County library in Mount Pleasant at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

On the Web: Read more about the Palmetto Scholars Academy at postandcourier.com. For more information on the school, go to palmettoscholarsacademy.org.