School board will decide if Manatee Charter gets one-year extension

A potential agreement between the School District of Manatee County and Manatee Charter School could ensure Manatee Charter will stay open for one more year, if the district board approves the proposed resolution next week.

The charter school would receive a one-year extension to its charter as long as it enters into and follows the terms of a stringent school improvement plan, according to the proposed resolution.

The school district notified the 700-student charter school, located at 4550 30th St. E Bradenton, that it did not intend to extend the school’s charter beyond this school year in a Feb. 9 letter from district general counsel Mitch Teitelbaum.

Ken Haiko, the chairman of Manatee Charter School’s parent organization, Southwest Charter Foundation Inc., signed the proposed agreement on Tuesday. The School Board of Manatee County will vote on whether to accept the resolution at its board meeting on Tuesday.

Teitelbaum said the school improvement plan will ensure the struggling school rectifies its academic and administrative troubles.

“The proposed agreement sets forth the expectations and requirements that will hold the charter school accountable and also carry consequences for any failure to comply with the terms of the agreement,” Teitelbaum said.

Manatee Charter spokeswoman Colleen Reynolds declined to comment on the proposed agreement, citing the pending vote by the school board.

The school improvement plan addresses several of the issues Teitelbaum raised in the Feb. 9 letter.

In the letter, Teitelbaum described Manatee Charter as a chaotic learning environment where teachers did not follow lesson plans, student grades were not entered on time and student misbehavior was a regular disruption. The charter requested an administrative hearing to appeal, and at a March 27 hearing lawyers for both sides said they were close to a proposed resolution.

All of Manatee Charter’s 700 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and 80 percent of the students are minorities.

The school improvement plan breaks down the district’s expectations into six main categories: Discipline, education plan, meeting state regulations for ESE and ESOL students, inputting student data on time, complying with Title I requirements and performing state-required evaluations for teachers.

District officials will perform four walk-throughs of the school next year — three announced and one unannounced.

If Manatee Charter fails to comply with any requirement of the plan, the district would give it 30 days to fix the issue. If the problem is not remedied, the charter contract would automatically expire at the end of next school year.

This story was originally published April 4, 2017 at 6:08 PM with the headline "School board will decide if Manatee Charter gets one-year extension."