About half of Alabama’s public charter schools have not met their enrollment projections, according to an analysis shared with the Alabama Public Charter School Commission during its regular meeting Monday afternoon (Jan. 12) — a shortfall that could create financial problems for some schools.
Subscribe to The Alabama Baptist today!
SIGN UP for our weekly Highlights emails.
Having fewer students than expected means finances could become a concern down the road, Logan Searcy, the commission’s executive director, told commissioners. The state-level commission currently oversees 14 charter school operators across Alabama.
Some schools were far below their enrollment goals and may need to take action to adjust their charter contracts, Searcy said.
“If they’re not meeting their contracted projected enrollment, then we need to look at a charter contract amendment to reflect what their plans are,” Searcy said.
“If they’re going to lower their enrollment, we should ask what their financial resources are to ensure that they are giving the best educational options to our students. We want the charter contract to reflect what’s happening at the schools.”
The state-level commission, which serves as a quasi-state agency, is responsible for ensuring the charter schools it has approved are meeting the terms of their contracts. Those contracts spell out everything from projected versus actual enrollment and school capacity to whether schools have enough cash on hand to operate.
Commission finance specialist Doug Riley compiled the enrollment information in the table linked here.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Trisha Powell Crain and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
Share with others: