Virtual Charter Academy gains initial approval

The Cabarrus County Board of Education granted preliminary approval to the application submitted by North Carolina Virtual Charter Academy in a 5-2 vote at its business meeting on Monday.

The application will now be sent to the State Board of Education for approval.

This was the third time the board discussed the application.

If it is approved at the state level, the virtual charter school would be based in Cabarrus County and would enroll students statewide.

It would have North Carolina-certified teachers, and students would have online and hardcopy school materials, said Joseph Chisholm, vice president of school development for K12, Inc., a technology-based education company that provides curriculum, who presented at the board’s business meeting in December.

Chisholm told the board last month that the charter for this new school would be submitted by North Carolina Learns, Inc., a proposed nonprofit group, and it would be under the new law that eliminated the cap on charter schools. He said that going to a school district to partner with is one way for a charter school to receive initial approval.

Before the board discussed the application again on Monday, three guest speakers spoke on behalf of North Carolina Virtual Charter Academy.

One of the speakers was North Carolina Sen. Fletcher Hartsell who called the virtual charter academy an idea whose time has come with little risk and tremendous reward for the school system.

The school board began its discussion by hearing from its attorney, Mark Henriques, who told members that he had spoken to Laura Crumpler, assistant attorney general at North Carolina Department of Justice who handles education issues, and Katie Cornetto, staff attorney for the State Board of Education. Crumpler and Cornetto said the state is still working on new guidelines and felt it would be unlikely that this or any other virtual charter school would get approved at the state level before those guidelines are developed, Henriques said.

Henriques also mentioned the North Carolina General Statute under which the board would grant preliminary approval.

In the statute, there are three areas the chartering entity, or in this case the school board, has to examine when asked to grant preliminary approval. Those areas were if the information in the application met the requirements set by the State Board of Education, if the applicant has the ability to operate the school and if granting the application would improve student learning.

“It’s up to the board to reach their conclusion on the assessment,” Henriques said.

Board members Grace Mynatt, Carolyn Carpenter and Holly Blackwelder said they decided to trust the school system staff members who had reviewed the criteria for the application and recommended its preliminary approval.

“When you bring a recommendation to us, I take that very seriously,” Blackwelder said.

She and Mynatt also said that the State Board of Education will decide to ultimately approve North Carolina Virtual Charter Academy or not.

Carpenter said the virtual charter school would help prevent students from dropping out, and she and other board members said granting preliminary approval would be progressive.

“I believe changes are happening all around us,” said board Vice Chairman Blake Kiger. “I would rather Cabarrus County Schools be a part of that and help shape the future, as opposed to on the outside looking in.”

While the majority of the board supported granting preliminary approval, board members Cindy Fertenbaugh and Tim Furr said they were not in favor of it and voted against it.

Fertenbaugh asked if the board was willing to accept the unknowns and obligate the other 114 school systems in the state to this.

She and Furr said the school system already has established magnet programs to offer students and should focus on what it is already doing.

“The ones that don’t graduate don’t want to,” Furr said. “We’ve given them every resource. … The most knowledgeable people are in Raleigh. They’ve pretty much said they’re not going to do it.”

Contact reporter Jessica Groover: 704-789-9152