POLL: PARENTS SUPPORT CHARTER SCHOOLS IN ST.LUCIE

 

FCSA Press Release

St. Lucie County, FL – 09/21/2015 – The highest performing high school in St. Lucie County is Somerset College Preparatory Academy, a public charter school serving 9-12th grade students. School leaders and parents want to expand the school to serve middle school students. However, an application submitted to the school district to add a middle school component to Somerset College Prep is earmarked for denial. School leaders, parents, community representatives and Ralph Arza, Director of Governmental Affairs for the Florida Charter School Alliance, held a press conference on campus today to bring the issue to light.

At the press conference, Arza also released the results of a poll recently conducted by the Florida Charter School Alliance (FCSA), a non-profit charter school support and advocacy organization, that gauged the level of support for public charter schools and school choice among residents of Port St. Lucie, as well as ranking of the public school system in the county. More than 30 % of respondents polled said that charter school offer parents and students an alternative public school choice; and over 35% said that charter schools foster a health competition between district-run and charter schools. More an 38% ranked area public schools as average, 33% ranked county schools as needs improvement / failing our children.

“Somerset College Preparatory Academy has been helping high school students make great academic gains and prepare for college,” explains Erika Rains, founding Principal. “Our proposed middle school is a replication of a high-performing, academically successful model that’s been operating in Broward County for years. This is the type of educational program that parents have been asking us for, and the community needs. The reasons the district has given us for denying our application are without merit.”

A final decision from the Port St. Lucie School Board about the Somerset College Preparatory Academy middle school application is expected tomorrow, September 22, 2015.

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