Officials at the Virgin Johnson Academy of Excellence, a proposed multi-county charter school, are stunned by the denial of their application to join the S.C. Public Charter School District (SCPCSD).
The SCPCSD informed Fayette Nick, Chief Executive Officer for the VJAE, of its decision by telephone last Thursday, and said a letter would be coming to explain its decision.
"It's just blowing my mind," said Virgin Johnson, Jr., VJAE attorney and the son of the former educator and Hampton County Councilman who is lending his name and support to the proposed school. "This caught me by surprise, I'm shocked. We're all floored. I have no idea why, nobody knows why. I guess we'll have to wait and get the letter."
Jonathan Butcher, SCPCSD director of accountability, declined to comment on the application Tuesday, referring questions to District Superintendent Dr. Wayne Brazell. Brazell did not return phone calls by press time.
Nick released the following statement on Friday:
"The Virgin Johnson Academy of Excellence application for admission into the charter school district was denied by the charter school board, and we don't know why. A letter is supposed to be forthcoming within ten days.
"Our concern is that the state approved us, and an outside reviewer approved us, and the district denied us for whatever reason. The (VJAE) committee is now waiting for the letter to discuss their options.
"We want to thank the public for their support, we regret the outcome, and we tried our best to help raise the educational standards for children in this area."
Johnson said that in an earlier screening process the charter school passed evaluations by both the state advisory committee and an outside evaluator.
"We passed the state - where most people get weeded out - and they said we had a great application. But the district turned us down," he added. "The outside evaluators said we have a good application. There was never a problem with our application. If there was an issue, nobody told us. There may be a justifiable reason, but we don't know it."
A June 10 letter from Larry DiCenzo, chair of the South Carolina Charter School Advisory Committee (CSAC) to Brazell, a copy of which was provided to The Guardian by Nick, states that CSAC "has determined that the enclosed application ... complies with the standards set forth in Regulation 43-601, Procedures and Standards for Review of Charter School Applications, which reflect the requirements and intent of the Charter Schools Act."
A copy of the July 2 report from an outside evaluator, Wanda C. Whatley, Ph.D., rated VJAE as "good" and recommended that the SCPSCD "approve the application unconditionally."
Once the letter of denial is received, the VJAE will have 30 days to appeal this decision to an administrative law court. The court must hear the appeal and issue a final written order.
If the court affirms the district's denial, the school will not be approved. If it reverses the decision, the school can prepare to open the following year.
Nick said Monday that, in the worst-case scenario, VJAE would have to reapply to the state and the new school would have to open a year later than planned.
The proposed school is seeking to locate in Fairfax, but serve students from all surrounding counties. So far about 1,600 students, including 500 from Hampton County, have preregistered, Nick said.