JLCS governing board chairman Shirley Cromer said the meeting will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. in First Baptist Church’s Family Life Center behind Jordan’s Hot Spot on S.C. 9 in Lockhart.
The governing board is split between members who want to try to open a charter school next year and those who feel it is no longer feasible and want to surrender the charter. The board hopes the meeting will help gauge the level of public support for continuing or stopping the effort. The board will then vote on whether or not to work for a 2010 opening or return its charter to the State Charter School District.
The school was originally scheduled to open in 2008 but was delayed until this year after funding for land acquisition and facility construction fell through. The district has not been able to secure the required funding since then. Mrs. Cromer favors a 2010 opening, arguing that fund raising efforts are still underway and continuing into next year would give the district time to secure the necessary support.
The district has been awarded $420,000 from the State Charter School District to cover the cost of furnishing the new school once it is built. The money cannot be used for land acquisition, building construction or school operations, including personnel costs.
Vice chairman Mark Sanders favors surrendering the charter, arguing that the board’s effort has reached a dead end. He pointed out that the charter school’s per pupil funding has been cut twice as the state tries to balance its budget in the face of the ongoing economic downtur. Given current economic conditions, it could be years before that funding is restored, he said.
Sanders added that the new Jonesville Elementary/Middle K-8 School now under construction will open this fall. He said it is unlikely that parents will move their children from there to the charter school.
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