When Bryan Jones, president of the board responsible for the downtown Mentorship Academies, noticed his schools were paying a fee for which they hadn’t budgeted, he naturally was concerned.
The academies, one centered on science and technology and one on digital arts, are Type 1 charters, which means they are public schools approved by the local school board, and their state funding passes through the district’s central office. But a $788 per-student fee was being deducted from the checks, which the East Baton Rouge Parish School System apparently was using to help cover health benefits for retirees who had never worked for the charter schools.
For Jones, the fee could cost nearly $200,000 per year, a significant sum for any school, but especially for ones just getting off the ground. Jones does not accuse the system of wrongdoing; he believes the fee stems from a misunderstanding of the agreement his organization has with the system.
“This was not a cost we expected to incur,” he says. “We know what our contract says.”
In the weeks since the conflict between a few charter schools and the school system was first made public by Daily Report, the system appears to have backed down. The central office has stopped charging the fee to the Mentorship Academies, but it remains to be determined if, when and how the money already deducted will be repaid. This isn’t just a question of funding; it’s a matter of building trust between a system with a reputation—deserved or not—for opposing change and charter schools that increase the pressure on the system’s budget.
The East Baton Rouge system spent $32.3 million for health care benefits for retirees and their dependents in fiscal year 2009-10. The cost would be less severe had Baker, Central and Zachary been forced to take their share of the cost with them when they pulled out of the system. According to school board member Jerry Arbour, local representatives attempted to add language to the legislation to that effect but were unsuccessful.
“There’s only a finite amount of dollars out there,” he says. “For every dollar that the charter school takes out of our district, it becomes much more difficult for us to pay the retirees’ health care benefits. … One day, and it ain’t too far down the road, we’re going to have a very difficult time meeting that obligation.”
A district spokesman says officials won’t discuss the fee issue. Patty McMurray, an attorney with Adams and Reese who has been working on behalf of multiple charter schools, didn’t respond to inquiries.
But as one source describes the situation, representatives of the Mentorship Academies and two other Type 1 charters, Children’s Charter School on North Street and Inspire Academy on North Foster Drive, started comparing notes and realized the East Baton Rouge system was deducting $788 for retiree benefits from monies the schools had expected to receive. Inspire and the Mentorship schools opened in 2010. Children’s Charter, open since 1997, has been paying the fee for years, sources say, and the amount has increased over time to the current level.
A series of e-mails between McMurray and system attorney Domoine Rutledge, obtained through a public records request, appear to show a need for clarification on other fronts as well. The attorneys have gone back and forth over a proposed memorandum of understanding between the system, Inspire and National Heritage Academies, which provides education services for Inspire.
The MOU would govern the proper distribution of Title I federal funds, among other topics. A draft copy states people employed by NHA for Inspire “shall not be required to participate in the state’s health plan or other offered benefits such as the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana unless otherwise required by law.”
In another example, an e-mail from McMurray dated Nov. 1, 2010, asks for “clarification on the special education funds and services” available through the district to Children’s Charter.
“As I understand it at present, a speech teacher is provided by EBR to [the school] and no other services or funds for services are available,” McMurray says, adding in the e-mail that 14% of the school’s students have special needs. She then quotes state law that says funding that traditional schools would have received for such students should follow the students to their charter schools.
Inspire and the Mentorship Academies were supported by Superintendent John Dilworth and approved by the last school board. Some observers say the approvals showed a level of openness to new ideas some system critics didn’t expect.
But the system faces numerous costs, like retirement obligations, that current officials didn’t create, and there is an inherent tension that comes with funding charter schools at a time when budgets are tight. The temptation likely exists to exploit any possible bureaucratic gray areas, which helps explain why charter school supporters want clarity on what is owed to whom and when.
The fee is no longer being deducted from the Mentorship Academy checks, and Inspire board member Jason DeCuir says it’s his understanding Inspire will no longer have to pay the fee, either. The possible repayment of fees already deducted remains under discussion in both cases. Dave Johnson, board president for Children’s Charter, says his school doesn’t have any agreement on the fees.
“We are still having that conversation,” he says. “I think that as far as EBR’s concerned, we should be paying the fee.”
Organizers for the planned Career Academy, which would offer college prep work along with training for skilled trades, are watching closely. The school is a priority for Dilworth and is supported by several business leaders; all parties would lose if mistrust over funding issues derailed the project. Moreover, there often is mutual suspicion between charter school advocates and the education establishment, and spats over money are unhelpful to stakeholders who would like to bridge those gaps.
Jones, for his part, gives the system the benefit of the doubt by noting officials have different sets of rules for different charters, and says that he and Dilworth want to see his schools succeed.
“We recognize it’s confusing,” Jones says. “We recognize that it’s new. We believe it was a misunderstanding, and we certainly want to work this out, and believe that we will.”
