10/21/2005
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Charter Schools Board votes to revoke Flanner House Higher Learning Center's charter
INDIANAPOLIS - The Indianapolis Charter Schools Board today voted to revoke the Flanner House Higher Learning Center's charter due to numerous problems the school has experienced over the past two years.
The Charter Schools Office first flagged these problems during the 2003-04 school year, and detailed them in the 2004 Charter School Accountability Report of Mayor-Sponsored Charter Schools. Problems also were cited in a recent audit by the Indiana State Board of Accounts.
The revocation was issued today and will become effective as soon as all students transition out of the school, but no later than December 23, 2005. Reasons for the revocation were detailed in a notice sent to the school on September 27. They include:
· Failure to report enrollment. The school failed to accurately report average daily membership for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years in accordance with state law.
· Failure to report student attendance records. The school routinely failed to maintain and report accurate attendance records, in accordance with state law.
· Graduating students who haven't met requirements. Student transcripts show that many students who received diplomas in the last two years did not meet the graduation requirements set out in the school's charter or Indiana law, typically because they either did not have enough credits or had not passed the appropriate courses.
· Poor test scores. In both years of operation, most students failed to successfully complete the required standardized test (Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress) in the fall and spring. Some of those who successfully completed the test actually did worse on the spring test than they did on the fall test and lost ground against both state and national norms in grades and subjects tested in both the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years.
· Lack of certified teachers. In the 2004-05 school year, the school employed only four licensed teachers at the school, which is less than the number of teachers the school's charter requires and less than necessary to adequately staff the school.
· Failure to test students. The school failed to administer the ninth grade Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress Plus ("ISTEP+") examination to any students enrolled in the ninth grade in 2004-05, as required by state law.
· Debt. The school has a debt of $142,076.44 and must forgo more than $600,000 in state money because the school could not account for the students listed in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 enrollment reports.
The Charter Schools Office appointed Thomas Major, Jr. as a trustee to manage the process for winding down the school's affairs, including:
· Helping transition students into other schools. Students may attend meetings on October 24 (6-7:30 p.m.), October 25 (11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) and October 26 (6-7:30 p.m.) to discuss options to transfer to other schools. All meetings will be at Watkins Park Family Center, 2360 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. St.
The meetings will include officials from the Indiana Department of Education's Division of Adult Education, the Indianapolis Charter High Schools and officials from the Indianapolis Public Schools and the Washington, Wayne and Warren Township school districts.
· Ensuring the proper disposition of all public sector funds and the school's assets.
· Working closely with the school to make certain the school satisfies all its obligations. The trustee will use a comprehensive closing checklist, which outlines all of the responsibilities the school must fulfill before it closes. A copy of the checklist is available on the Charter Schools website at /eGov/Mayor/Education/Charter/Schools/Operating.
Major runs a local consulting company and is an associate church minister. He previously practiced law at Baker & Daniels.
Charter schools are public schools that are freed from most of the regulations governing traditional schools. In exchange for this freedom, they must meet the highest academic standards. The "charter" is a contract that explains what the school will accomplish, how student performance will be measured and what level of achievement it will attain. A school that fails to comply with the terms of its charter may have it revoked.
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