This page has been made available for your convenience, but the content of this site will no longer be updated after May 20, 2001. Visit the new site for new information. State Board members, who hear appeals from charter school applicants who are denied at the local level, issued a written order today that explained their unanimous April 9 decision to overturn a Beaufort County School Board decision against the proposed Lighthouse Charter School.
Charter schools receive public funds but are free from most state regulations.
Lighthouse supporters appealed to the State Board after their application to create the new school was denied by the Beaufort County School Board on March 7. The local board said the application lacked specific state-required information on items such as enrollment, minority support, student transportation and buildings. The Board also noted that Lighthouse supporters had promised in their application to meet all state requirements, including those regarding health, safety and civil rights. The Charter Schools Act makes provisions for a charter to be revoked if the law's requirements are not met. Today's written order criticized the Beaufort County School Board for failing to cooperate with Lighthouse supporters and communicate more clearly how their application might have been strengthened, and ultimately approved.