Charter school may close

Charleston County School Board members want this year to be the last one that Susan G. Boykin Academy is open.

The board agreed in an 8-1 vote Monday night to notify the North Charleston charter school of its intent not to renew its charter, which expires at the end of this school year. Board member Elizabeth Kandrac was the dissenting vote.

In other business, the board agreed in an 8-1 vote to close district offices and ask 12-month administrators and staff to take a voluntary furlough during spring break. It's a cost-saving measure to help make up for two mid-year state budget cuts and hedge against a potential third, officials said. Board member Chris Collins was the dissenting vote.

On the issue of the charter school, Boykin Academy leaders will have the opportunity to request a hearing and make an appeal as to why the board should allow it to continue operating. If requested, that hearing would be held by the end of this school year.

District officials cited three key areas in which the school had failed to meet the terms of its contract: poor academic achievement, failure to employ the state-required minimum percentage of certified teachers and failure to submit required financial information.

The district contracted with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to do an external audit of the kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school, and that team cited at least 10 areas of concern. Some of those included failure to replace one-third of its governing board members; failure to employ a guidance counselor, media specialist or nurse; and failure to use human or financial resources to provide support services as outlined in its mission to meet the educational and cultural needs of low-income, at-risk students.

School board Chairwoman Ruth Jordan said the school hasn't shown progress in the five years it has been open and that students' needs aren't being met. She visited the school and said children didn't have access to basic items, such as toilet paper in bathrooms. Students must ask their teachers for pieces of tissue before they go, she said. Schools in North Charleston are making progress and could absorb the charter school's 130 students, she said.

"We (the district) are doing a better job and can provide better services for these children," she said.

On closing down during spring break, schools already were slated to be closed, and the board agreed to shut down all buildings and offices to save utility and operational costs. District officials will have to take four days of unpaid leave or use their vacation days to cover the four voluntary furlough days. Because employees can use vacation days to cover the furloughs, officials weren't sure how much money would be saved.

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com.