Babcock's charter school approved by Charlotte board
THYRIE BLAND, and PAMELA McCABE
Plans to build a K-through-8 schoolhouse in Babcock Ranch were approved by the Charlotte County school board Thursday.
The school, called the Babcock Neighborhood School, is set to open next fall in the solar-powered eco-city, which is being built just north of the Lee-Charlotte county line near State Road 31.
An application form will be posted to the school website, where potential students and parents can fill out an interest form.
Babcock charter school heads to Charlotte board for vote
Although the school will sit on the Charlotte side of the property, an open enrollment process in keeping with a new state law will allow students in other counties to attend as long as there are seats available. This means Lee County children could be among those in the inaugural class.
"Schools are the cornerstone of every successful community, and we are pleased to be able to incorporate quality, community-based public education from the very beginning at Babcock Ranch," said Al Dougherty, the chief operating officer of the communities division of Kitson & Partners, in a news statement.
Before Thursday's unanimous vote, school board member Lee Swift said he was in favor of the plans, even though he is "normally and philosophically opposed to charter schools."
"This situation meets the true definition of being unique, and I think it would be an asset to the district to have," he said.
Board chair Barbara Rendell agreed, calling it a "truly unique school."
In other charter school news, the application for Athenian Academy of Estero is due to come before the Lee school board during its 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday. District staff who reviewed the document believe "the application does not meet the minimum standards for approval, and that the application should be recommended for denial by the school board."
Allen: Presidential candidates should provide transcripts, reference letters
Florida Gulf Coast University faculty member Tim Allen believes candidates who apply to be the school's president should be required to provide letters of reference and their college transcripts.
"These are the kinds of things that we would normally consider for a faculty member, so I would think we would certainly want to consider these things for a president," Allen said Tuesday during a FGCU presidential search committee meeting.
But committee Chairman Ken Smith said candidates won't be required to submit the documents. He said one reason why is because under Florida's Sunshine Law the documents would become a public record after they are provided.
Smith also said it would be poor form to ask executives to provide transcripts.
He said background checks, including credential and employment verification, will be performed on candidates, and Witt/Kieffer, an Illinois-based search firm, will be responsible for making sure the task is performed.
Next FGCU leader needs political savvy, business acumen
Lucy Leske, a senior partner at Witt/Kieffer, said when it comes to executive-level searches, letters of references aren't "terribly valuable."
"The actual direct conversation with a reference is much more revealing than a letter of reference," she said.
Allen, a presidential search committee member, said he understood concerns mentioned during the meeting, but they aren't any different from when FGCU tries to fill a faculty job.
'So it's just troubling to me that we might be perceived to be treating this search differently, and I want to avoid that if at all possible," he said.
ITT Technical students can apply at Hodges
Hodges University is opening its doors to former students of the ITT Technical Institute in Fort Myers.
ITT schools across the country have shuttered as a result of federal sanctions, including a U.S. Department of Education decision that bars ITT from enrolling new students who need federal aid.
Students can contact Hodges's admissions office or a financial aid representative by calling (800) 466-0019 or by sending an email to admit@hodges.edu.
Florida school boards band together
Lee County played host this week to 10 counties that represent the Greater Florida Consortium, a lobbying group of school board members from around the state.
"The consortium represents 10 counties, which includes almost half of the students in Florida and almost half of Florida's House and Senate," said Lee board member Cathleen Morgan, who is president of the group this year.
Lee welcomed folks from Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pinellas, Sarasota and St. Lucie school systems during the two-day event. The goal for the group is to create a legislative platform "in a way to meet the needs of the boards," Morgan said.
Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, R-Fort Myers, joined in on the discussion Friday, discussing strategies for how the group could get its points across better at the state level.