“PALM COAST — Flagler County’s three charter schools finished the last fiscal year in the black, but the district’s chief financial officer said it could be a tough road ahead for them, especially the two smallest schools.
Imagine School at Town Center had no money in reserve on June 30 and received a $247,434 contribution from its parent company, Imagine School Non-Profit Inc. Heritage Academy and Palm Harbor Academy maintained modest fund balances.
But enrollment at the Imagine School at Town Center is growing while the number of students at Heritage Academy and Palm Harbor Academy have remained constant or increased more slowly. Imagine serves 533 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Heritage has 193 students in kindergarten through grade 12 and Palm Harbor has 126 students in kindergarten through grade six.
Enrollment is important because funding for each school is based on the number of students who attend. Imagine’s enrollment is reasonable for a charter school, Tant said, but Heritage and Palm Harbor may need to attract more students to remain viable.
‘I’m concerned that they don’t have the student growth they need,’ Tant said.
The School Board approved annual audits for Imagine and Heritage on Oct. 19. The board will consider Palm Harbor’s at a later date.
Officials for Imagine and Heritage say the schools are doing just fine.
Heritage’s parent company, School Management Solutions, Inc., cut the school a break by reducing the annual fee the school pays to the parent company last year, saving Heritage close to $88,000. The company did not need the money and Heritage Academy did, said Carol Bush, director of finance for Heritage Academy and Boston Avenue Charter School in DeLand.
Heritage ended the year with $49,161 in reserve. The school focused on saving money last year by getting parents to help, using less electricity and shopping around to receive the best prices.
‘We were very tight with the budget,’ she said.
Meanwhile, Imagine is ‘not in any type of trouble,’ said Cathi Cohen, region finance director. It’s not unusual for the company to assist newer schools and the Imagine School at Town Center, now in its third year of operation, is not struggling, she said. Over time, the school will work to build a reserve fund, she said.
The school is at maximum capacity, with a waiting list for grades 5, 6 and 7, she said. School officials are planning an expansion that could start next summer and allow the school to accommodate up to 910 students. Enrollment is increasing at many of the company’s schools, which are located throughout the country, Cohen said.
The charter schools serve different kinds of students than the public schools and district officials want them to succeed, Tant said.”
Article published by the Daytona Beach News-Journal on Nov. 1, 2010.