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Sarasota News Leader September 28, 2012 Kovach said he understood the concern about resources. However, he countered, "Some of our best-performing charter schools are also our least expensive." Todd responded that she had heard from sev- eral charter school principals in the Sarasota district who "appreciate the due diligence that this board conducts in order to ensure that we do have some of the best charter schools in the state." THE ONE OUT OF FIVE The only application on Sept. 18 that won mostly plaudits from the board members was for the Visible Men Academy, proposed by for- mer professional basketball player Neil Phil- Page 13 lips, who grew up in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Harvard University. The academy would enroll only male, at-risk students from low-income families, with the focus on those in Newtown and north Sara- sota. Phillips and his wife, Shannon, talked with the School Board about what they called a "na- tional crisis" regarding the education of chil- dren from such families, "especially males of color," as Neil Phillips put it. "I was very excited to see this application come forward," board member Shirley Brown told Phillips and his group. Unlike this proposal, Brown said, many of the charter school proposals that had been The Sarasota County School Board is scheduled to vote on new charter school applications during its regular meeting at 3 p.m. on Oct. 16 in the board chambers at the district complex, 1980 Land- ings Blvd. Photo by Norman Schimmel