by Kenya Woodard
A charter high school with an innovative curriculum that allows students to earn both a diploma and a college degree and boasts a graduation rate of more than 87 percent is set to close at the end of the year, according to a story in this week’s Indianapolis Star.
Founded in 2006 and identified by the Star as “a prime local example of the promise of charter schools,” Stonegate Early College High School graduated a majority of its seniors but was plagued by poor test scores, earning an “F” grade from the state’s Department of Education four years in a row. But its closure comes as a result of poor finances, not state intervention, writer Scott Elliot reports.
The trouble began in 2009, when Stonegate’s partnership with Lawrence Township Schools ended and it was asked to vacate Lawrence’s McKenzie Career Center so that the building could be used for other district programs.
The search for a new site led to Warren Township, where Stonegate took out loans to rent and renovate space in an office building.
The school soon began struggling to meet its debt obligations. To stay afloat, it needed 275 students to enroll this school year. When students enter charter schools, the state aid to educate them is transferred from their former schools to the charter school.
But when the state counted enrollment in September, Stonegate had just 186 enrolled students. State law does not allow for aid to flow to schools for students who enroll after September. The school actually gained more students — it’s up to 210 now — but it was too late to receive that aid.
Another thing that was too late? A new law passed this year that requires school districts to provide vacant buildings to charter schools. In the story, Beth Bray, director of the mayor’s charter school office, said the school may have been in a better position had the law passed in 2009.
Instead, Indianapolis’ students have one less option.
