Dorchester Dist. 2 likely to appeal
BY ALLISON L. BRUCE
Of The Post and Courier Staff
A district judge told Dorchester District 2 on Thursday to hand over $41,000 to James Academy of Excellence so it can stay open for another week and a half, according to an attorney for the charter school.
The district likely will appeal to the federal district court because it is concerned that it may not be able to get that money back if the school closes, said Arnold Goodstein, attorney for Dorchester District 2.
The charter school has been up and running since the end of August even though the school district withdrew its support in mid-August. Earlier this month, the school board voted to deny the charter, a decision the school appealed to the state Education Board. A hearing is set for Nov. 10.
The basic argument is whether the school ever actually came into existence. Charter schools are public schools governed by boards of parents, educators and community members. Districts pay a certain amount per student to charter schools within their boundaries.
In the case of James Academy, the seventh- through 12th-grade school would have been the first charter school in Dorchester County. But the district determined that the school had not lived up to the conditions of its conditional charter, such as having a building ready to open at the beginning of the school year, so it never was recognized as a charter school.
School supporters argue that the more than $87,700 the district paid to the school in July and August shows that the district did recognize James Academy as a valid charter school.
The district had no right to cut off the money while the charter school still was appealing the decision, said the charter school's attorney Michael Rose.
The school has been operating without any other payments from the district and has not been able to pay its employees or its October rent, Rose said. When U.S. Magistrate Judge George C. Kosko asked on Thursday the amount the school would need to stay open until its appeal date, Rose said he talked with school offi-cials and arrived at the $41,000 amount.
Goodstein said it would take a court order to get Dorchester District 2 to give more money to James Academy.
In Charleston County, a charter school was overpaid and spent about $365,000 before the Charleston County School Board revoked its charter. The district has been unable to collect its money.
"The problem is the limited funds available (in District 2)," Goodstein said. "We want to use them wisely."
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