OFFICIAL DOUBTS HOPE UP TO ‘CHALLENGE’

By Rick Joslin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Earl Glass believes he and his wife, Amanda Glass, will be successful in their operation of HOPE (Helping Others Progress in Excellence) Academy here, but Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Frank Anthony has some serious doubts the charter school will survive.

“Rev. and Mrs. Glass are good people, but I have reservations about their charter school’s capabilities in satisfying some education requirements,” Anthony said after the Arkansas Board of Education approved HOPE Academy in a Monday meeting in Little Rock.

HOPE Academy — focusing on academics, character development, and employment and life skills — is scheduled to open in August 2007.

Glass said he and his wife will “be together at the helm” of HOPE Academy.

Glass, 48, and his wife, 45, both have master’s degrees in clinical psychology. Glass is a former classroom teacher and his wife has experience in creating and managing daycare curriculums.

Dr. William Braswell of Monticello, who Glass said holds a doctorate’s degree in theology and a master’s degree in education, has been hired as the school’s principal.

Anthony attended the hearing Monday and spoke against the charter school, designed for at-risk students in grades 5-8.

“I think the board made a heart decision, not a head decision,” he said. “I think the board should judge charter schools by the same ethics outlined in the Arkansas Supreme Court’s 2002 decision in the Lake View (School District) case.

“The ruling was that the components of curriculum, equipment, teacher salaries and facilities must be adequate and equitable. I don’t see how the charter school can handle that challenge, especially with the Pine Bluff district’s $30-million building project.”

Charter schools are publicly financed, although they are not under the same regulations as conventional public schools. Charter schools function within terms of their agreements with the state.

Anthony said he and the Pine Bluff district must accept the education board’s sanctioning of HOPE Academy. “We’ll dance to the next record,” he quipped.

The Pine Bluff School Board issued its opposition to the charter school in a unanimous October vote. The district has been experiencing declining enrollment the past several years, losing state funding in the process.

Glass foresees an initial enrollment at HOPE Academy of 120 students, a number he expects will eventually grow to 280.

Glass said he and his wife “anticipated the board’s approval,” but had figured the panel wouldn’t vote on the matter until January.

The Pine Bluff charter school is sponsored by the non-profit There is Hope for the Children Inc. Plans include a 220-day school year with classes to be held from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Friday. Dance, art, music, foreign language and sports classes also would be from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.