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Attendance at Ida B. Wells Academy drops to 40 despite new facility. $50 bonus offered for referrals
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Oct 29, 2007
The Ida B. Wells Academy in Akron has squeaked through two probations, a sour relationship with its sponsor, money problems and a dour state audit.
But nothing will keep the school down, administrators have said.
The school for kindergartners through fifth-graders moved in September into a newly renovated building and has plans to morph into something much grander an educational and cultural institution for the community at large.
''This started as a vision,'' said the Rev. Jimmie Hicks of Cleveland, a member of the school's board of governors. ''We want to make sure it continues.''
Ida B. Wells is one of 385 charter schools that have operated in Ohio since 1998 to offer families more choices.
The independently operated schools are funded by public money that is transferred from the traditional district the students otherwise would attend. They are supervised by independent agencies.
Problems have dogged many of the schools, though. According to the Ohio Board of Education, 57 have closed.
All have faced the ire of the Ohio Education Association, which objects to diverting public money from traditional districts and because students in many community schools don't perform as well as those in the traditional districts.
In September, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann sued three Dayton community schools for poor performance as a failed charitable trust. Attorney general spokesman Leo Jennings said this might be the way to curtail community schools and that the state will continue to sue schools that don't measure up.
In recent years, Ida B. Wells has been the most troubled of the Akron-area community schools, but Wells administrators say that is changing.
It has received $1.14 million in state and federal money since its inception in 1999, according to the state, but it has found itself in debt, owing $120,143 as of this fall.
Enrollment has dropped dramatically in the past year, from about 134 to 40 students this fall. That is still above the state minimum of 25 students needed to secure state funding for a community school.
Wells officials aim to boost that with a $50 bonus to any student who refers a new student who enrolls. The bonus money, provided in a gift certificate in the store of the family's choice, is being funded by Hicks.
In addition, the school is starting an intervention and tutorial program after school hours and plans to offer classes on computer literacy and programs on high blood pressure, strokes and other health concerns.
The goal is to offer broader services to the African-American community and reach an enrollment of 200, said Edward Crosby, the school co-founder and retired faculty member of Kent State University.
The most noticeable change is that the school has moved from rented quarters in the rear of the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Akron to a former church purchased with state funds by a company that Crosby owns.
About two-thirds of the 16,660 square feet at the new Copley Road facility have been renovated into seven classrooms, a conference room with artwork of black leaders lining the walls, a visitor's lounge, a library and a computer lab.
The school is no longer on probation with its sponsor, the Richland Academy of the Arts in Mansfield, which also oversees Lighthouse Community and Professional Development Academy in Akron and the Toledo Academy of Learning in Toledo.
Marianne Cooper, executive director of the Richland Academy, found fault with the way the school managed its finances and with the way instructional leader Kofi Khemet, Crosby's son, interacted with staff and students. She has said all problems have been resolved to the sponsor's satisfaction.
''We all try to remain optimistic, but the low enrollment is an issue,'' she said.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
The Ida B. Wells Academy in Akron has squeaked through two probations, a sour relationship with its sponsor, money problems and a dour state audit.
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