Lexington Park, MD — St. Mary’s County Board of Education is reviewing legal documents for a second five-year renewal of the Chesapeake Public Charter School (CPCS). They are expected to complete that process at their September 10th meeting.
The majority of the questions from the school board at its August 27 meeting centered around the loss of CPCS’s IRS nonprofit status, known as a 501-c-3 designation. The status lapsed when the school’s former accountant, working pro bono, made an error in filing the Form 990 renewal to the IRS.
In a presentation from CPCS Education Director Angela Funya and St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) Executive Director of Elementary School and Title 1 Kelly Hall (who is the liaison between SMCPS and CPCS), it was learned that persons who have made donations to the charter school have been given three options: have their donation refunded, have it held until the 501-c-3 status is reinstituted or make their donation through an intermediary non-profit.
The school’s non-profit fiscal sponsor during the transition, the Synthesis Center of St. Mary’s, has agreed to accept donations on behalf of CPCS and forward them to the school. The schools new accountant, Robert Askey of Askey and Askey, said there are written agreements to insure that transaction is handled legally.
School board member Cathy Allen asked exactly what the Synthesis Center of St. Mary’s was, because she was not familiar with it. Askey declined to answer the question other than to say they have a valid 501-c-3 designation. Funya said they had an education mission similar to the school.
According to Guidestar, a data base of non-profits, the Synthesis Center of St. Mary’s was incorporated in 1992 but in the latest tax filing had no assets and no income. Their address is listed as Dameron. They have no website but another website, called Shift Movement, says: “We are a group of souls, working together for the last 20 years, to create a multidimensional oasis on Earth where health, education, art, spirituality and scientific research can be explored and experienced individually, collectively and cosmically.”
Funya said the school’s fundraising goal for the current year is $65,000, of which $44,000 has been raised to support school activities and $17,000 for a building fund, with projections exceeding total expectations by the end of the year.
The school has ambitious plans to purchase the building that they currently occupy and expand the number of classes over time. They will be using a United States Department of Agriculture Rural Facilities Loan to help complete the purchase. They are expecting to hear shortly about the acceptance of that loan.
As to academic achievement, according to Funya, “Local and state data suggests that CPCS is performing as well or better than SMCPS historically high achieving schools.”
Chesapeake Public Charter School is the region’s only charter school. It began about the same time as School Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano started his tenure 10 years ago, which is about to come to an end as he transitions to become the state superintendent in West Virginia.
The presentation was made as a number of members of the school’s governing body, Chesapeake Charter School Alliance, and school’s staff observed. Parroting a cliché, Martirano told them, “You have come a long way baby.” He noted that ten years ago there weren’t a lot of models for the new school to follow. They charted their own course and Martirano said, “It has exceeded expectations.”
According to Funya the school differs for the others in the school system in that it has “non-graded-narrative based reports” and multi-age configurations throughout the day. Environmental education is a focus of the school. They have hands on educational opportunities with their own garden out back and a school chicken.
In addition, Arts education is embedded into all content areas. Nutrition and Wellness are key components, according to Funya.
The school operates on a modified year-round calendar. When other SMCPS students started their first day on August 20, the CPCS students had been back in their classrooms for two weeks.
There is currently a 278-student waiting list to attend the school, with only 17 kindergarten spaces available for the current school year because they have a policy of admitting siblings of existing students.
A lottery is held once a year for new students. That historically has been held in January but the school is considering advancing it to November to give parents more time to choose alternative arrangements if their child isn’t picked in the blind lottery.
The school’s make-up is 79.6 percent Caucasian, 14.5 percent African American and 4.5 percent Asian, which Hall says mirrors the school system as a whole.
Martirano noted that the CPCS gives parents and students another option in the school system’s varied Pathways to graduation.
The superintendent said the school has been successful through “persistence and a vision of innovation.” He boasted: “I am so proud of you.”