Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/84916
Sarasota News Leader September 28, 2012 bers, if they felt the applicant could remedy the problems. "It's really up to your discre- tion," she said. "We follow the state's evaluation tool in our process," Roca added. In response to a question from Kovach, Roca explained that if the board denied an applica- tion, the charter school representatives had 30 days to appeal to the Florida Department of Education. The district also had the oppor- tunity to supply its rebuttal, she said. All the material then was submitted to the state's Charter School Appeal Commission for consideration. If the commission upheld the denial of an application, the charter school group could appeal the decision to the State Board of Education. "I think we have ex- cellent charter schools here in Sarasota," Zucker said, "and it's because of all the help we provide the charter schools in getting their charters up and going. Remember, it's the lives of children that are affected by our de- cision," she said, "so we have to be really sure the charter schools will meet the standards set out, and the curriculum will be in place." QUESTIONING INTENTIONS After questioning of the third group of new charter school applicants began, Kovach inter- rupted the process, saying some of the board members' comments reflected the attitude, "'What can we do to keep charter schools out of here? Do we have enough gotchas to keep them from becoming charter schools?'" He suggested the board members talk about the criteria underlying the application pro- cess, "because I don't really know what it is all the time here that we are trying to do. Are we just trying to come up with reasons not to approve charter schools, or do we want to work with them?" Remember, it's the lives of children that are affected by our decision, so we have to be really sure the charter schools will meet the standards set out, and the curriculum will be in place. Caroline Zucker Chairwoman School Board Superintendent Lori White pointed out that the concern among superintendents state- wide is that "the mon- itoring and enforce- ment [of standards for charter schools] is somewhat weak." Moreover, White said, "As charter schools in- crease, our enrollment does not. You have in- effective use of facility space. That may not be the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars." "We are stewards of the taxpayer dollars," board Vice Chairwoman Carol Todd said, add- ing that the district had prevailed in every ap- peals case but one. If all five of the applications presented that day were approved, White said, "That would have a tremendous impact on our staff and our student enrollment in our other schools. … What does that mean as we manage our resources and try to deliver the best instruc- tion?" Page 12