The Jonesville-Lockhart Charter School continues to enroll students for the 2009 school year and is looking for a new site, according to the vice chairman of its governing board.
The opening of the school was delayed a year until 2009 at the request of its governing board, which is seeking new financing for construction.
At the time the delay was requested, 597 students had enrolled for the 2008 school year. The board voted in April to open enrollment for 2009 while keeping on file the enrollment forms for students who enrolled for 2008. The parents of those children were to be notified of the need to fill out an addendum to enroll their children for 2009.
Board vice chairman Mark Sanders said that as of Wednesday morning approximately 220 students have enrolled for the 2009 school year. Sanders pointed out the enrollment for 2008 was achieved over a five-month period during the school year. A large number of enrollment forms were sent to parents who expressed an interest in enrolling their children but have not been returned which Sanders attributed to the summer vacation period. He expressed confidence that enrollment numbers would be significantly higher by the start of school in 2009.
“I don't see where this will be a problem,” he said. “It's really early in the process.”
Though charter schools receive state and federal funding for operations based on student enrollment, the schools must obtain funding for facilities construction from other sources. Oak Capital was originally working to secure financing to purchase the land and build the school but the financing fell through due to a combination of factors, including the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Sanders said the board is working to secure new financing for the land purchase and the construction of the school. He described the board's efforts as “a work in progress” that will eventually be successful.
The delay in the construction and opening of the school caused the district to lose its option on a 60-acre site at the corner of Kelly-Pinckney Road and S.C. 9 near Kelly One Stop.
In January, the board took out a 90-day option - with a 30-day extension if needed - on the site. In April, board chairman Shirley Cromer said the owner agreed to extend the option until June 3, by which time she and Sanders hoped new financing would be secured.
Sanders said that although the option expired in June, the board has had offers of land from other interested parties. He said the board is still considering these offers and that no decision has been made.
In March, the board announced that the school had been awarded a $420,000 Federal Planning and Implementation Grant. It will will receive the grant in three installments over a two-year period based on the opening of the school.
Sanders said the grant is still in place and will not be used until the school is ready to open in 2009. He said the board still has the $20,000 in planning and implementation funds it received earlier this year.
“We've still got the grant, it's not been touched,” he said. “We've been doing everything on an all-volunteer basis. Not one dime of taxpayer money has been touched.”
Sanders said former Jonesville High School principal Dr. Richard Baldwin is still on board as director of the charter school.Baldwin. Prior to his appointment, Baldwin had worked with the school effort on an unofficial basis.
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A fund-raiser for the Jonesville-Lockhart Charter School will be held Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Lockhart First Baptist Church's Family Life Center behind Jordan's Hot Spot on S.C. 9 in Lockhart. Hot plates will begin being served at 5:30 p.m. and a musical performance by the Riverside Boys will start at 6:30 p.m.
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