by David Safier
Tuesday I posted about 100 Academy, a charter school in Las Vegas run by Imagine Schools. There have been financial, management and education problems at the school since it opened in 2006, and most of them point back to Virginia based Imagine Schools, a for profit company with over 70 schools across the nation, including 14 in Arizona.
After firing one principal, very likely because he asked questions about the way state education money was being spent — 40% of the state funding goes for rent, for starters — Imagine Schools suspended another principal, Timothy Goler, 2 weeks ago, most likely because he urged parents to go to a board meeting and request improvements in the school. Since then, parents have signed a petition asking for his reinstatement. Tomorrow is head count day in Nevada, when the state decides how much money the schools get based on their attendance. A number of parents have pulled their children already, and more may follow before the Friday deadline. That could be big trouble for the school.
Tonight there will be a board meeting. In advance of the meeting, suspended principal Goler sent a letter to parents, students, teachers and some community members. You can read the entire letter here.
Goler states he resigned from Imagine Schools, but he didn't resign as principal. Here's how he draws the distinction.
resigned from Imagine Schools, which is the management company that was contracted by the owners of the school- the
Governing Board. Imagine is a management company. They are not the school.
Period! What makes 100 Academy of Excellence a school is the Charter, which is
held by the Governing Board. The Governing Board contracted with Imagine
Schools to manage the school. My resignation was with Imagine and not with 100
Academy of Excellence. I know this
sounds complicated but this is the structure that is currently in place.
In fact, he's correct. Imagine Schools is a for profit company. For the school to be nonprofit (which I believe is mandatory for charters in Nevada, though in Arizona, for profit charters are just fine), it needs to have someone charter the school in Nevada, which can then contract with Imagine Schools.
According to the Las Vegas Sun, which has done an excellent job of covering the story,
In his letter, Goler says the meetings never happened.
Goler ends by urging people to attend tonight's board meeting.
Meeting this Thursday, September 17, 2009, at 6:00 PM at the School to
learn more (Very Important!).
I look forward to seeing you.
Will the school break from Imagine Schools and venture out on its own? It's happened before, but it's tricky. An Imagine subsidiary owns the building (complicated story for another post), and the school rents books and furniture from Imagine as well. If the school severs all ties with Imagine, it will basically have to start from scratch.
Far from the casinos, tonight should be a hot night in Vegas.
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