School Board Approves Vote for Beekman JHS Charter Application
By: Alanna Quillen
Updated: January 8, 2013
MOREHOUSE PARISH -- The Morehouse Parish school board has voted to approve the recommendation for Beekman Junior High School to become a Type Three charter.
The Morehouse Parish school board approved the recommendation, 5-2, in Tuesday night's school board meeting.
After going through hundreds of application pages, charter board president Keith Huntsman says he feels accomplished.
"I want to thank the board for giving us the opportunity to make Beekman a charter school," said Huntsman. "This will be a way to help keep more students in Morehouse Parish."
A crowd of Beekman JHS students even came to Tuesday night's meeting to show their support.
"We're very excited and we're grateful to be able to finish high school at Beekman Charter," said 8th grader Whitney Diel.
"I think it's a great opportunity and a better education for all of us," said 8th grader Deanna Hall.
Before the vote was made, a third party independent evaluator, Kimberly Williams, explained the recommendation for the type three charter, which means revenue and test scores will still benefit the district.
"Our third party consultant did a good job at taking a look at the pros and cons of the charter," said Superintendent George Noflin. "And I think she came with a good recommendation, and the majority of the board felt the same way."
Enrollment projections include the school having pre-K through 12 grade and over 700 students in the coming years -- the application does include what is required for school renovations to accommodate more students.
Williams said the business plan for year one is a total revenue of $5.4 million and expenditures of $4.6 million. By year five, $6.2 million in total expenditures and $7.3 million in total revenue.
If the board had denied the recommendation, the group pushing for a charter could still seek approval by the state department of education, but the revenue would flow through the department instead, and not the district. The school would almost act as its own district.
Noflin says this is a big victory for the Beekman community.
"i'm hoping that school pride will be increased and our students will do better academically," he said. "That's my key purpose and my key thoughts."
Huntsman says it may take a couple of months for a federal judge to approve it. Then, they'll achieve charter status.
The Morehouse Parish school board approved the recommendation, 5-2, in Tuesday night's school board meeting.
After going through hundreds of application pages, charter board president Keith Huntsman says he feels accomplished.
"I want to thank the board for giving us the opportunity to make Beekman a charter school," said Huntsman. "This will be a way to help keep more students in Morehouse Parish."
A crowd of Beekman JHS students even came to Tuesday night's meeting to show their support.
"We're very excited and we're grateful to be able to finish high school at Beekman Charter," said 8th grader Whitney Diel.
"I think it's a great opportunity and a better education for all of us," said 8th grader Deanna Hall.
Before the vote was made, a third party independent evaluator, Kimberly Williams, explained the recommendation for the type three charter, which means revenue and test scores will still benefit the district.
"Our third party consultant did a good job at taking a look at the pros and cons of the charter," said Superintendent George Noflin. "And I think she came with a good recommendation, and the majority of the board felt the same way."
Enrollment projections include the school having pre-K through 12 grade and over 700 students in the coming years -- the application does include what is required for school renovations to accommodate more students.
Williams said the business plan for year one is a total revenue of $5.4 million and expenditures of $4.6 million. By year five, $6.2 million in total expenditures and $7.3 million in total revenue.
If the board had denied the recommendation, the group pushing for a charter could still seek approval by the state department of education, but the revenue would flow through the department instead, and not the district. The school would almost act as its own district.
Noflin says this is a big victory for the Beekman community.
"i'm hoping that school pride will be increased and our students will do better academically," he said. "That's my key purpose and my key thoughts."
Huntsman says it may take a couple of months for a federal judge to approve it. Then, they'll achieve charter status.
