SEMO GETS CHARTER SCHOOL REQUEST

A not-for-profit corporation wants approval from Southeast Missouri State University to open a charter school in St. Louis.

Lift for Life Gym in St. Louis, which operates an after-school athletic program that centers around weightlifting, wants to open a middle school next fall for 60 students.

Organizers want to begin with a sixth-grade-only school and expand it to seventh and eighth grades over the following two years, with total enrollment of about 180 students.

The proposed Lift for Life Academy would operate on an 11-month school year or 225 school days divided into nine, five-week terms.

State law allows charter schools to operate only in the St. Louis and Kansas City school districts. They must be sponsored by the school districts or universities.

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, has urged Southeast to sponsor a charter school in St. Louis to provide students with an alternative to the schooling offered in the public school district.

He praised the Lift for Life application. "I think this is a very exemplary application and I am very hopeful we can move forward here," Kinder said Friday.

Southeast President Dr. Ken Dobbins and members of the university's charter evaluation team met with Lift for Life officials Friday afternoon to discuss the application. The meeting was held in Dobbins' office. Kinder attended via telephone.

The application was filed Monday. Under state law Southeast's Board of Regents has 60 days to act on the application.

Dobbins said the application will be evaluated by a seven-member team headed by Dr. B.C. DeSpain of Southeast's College of Education.

The team includes two school superintendents and two former superintendents. They are Fredericktown Superintendent Jerry Kinder and Poplar Bluff Superintendent Michael Johnson, and former Southeast Missouri superintendents Robert Buchanan and Jerry Waddle. Buchanan and Waddle work in Southeast's College of Education.

Also on the team are College of Education professors Fred Yeo and Kathy Riggin.

Dobbins said the university also plans to discuss the application with officials at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

He promised the university would conduct a thorough evaluation of the proposed school. "We don't want to end up with any surprises," he said.

"This is a very intriguing opportunity," Dobbins told the evaluation team and Lift for Life officials.

Lift for Life is seeking a 10-year charter to operate the proposed academy.

Lift for Life wants to operate the school from its downtown St. Louis gym at 1415 Cass Ave. for the first year. The place is near the TWA Dome.

"Right now we have about 5,000 square feet and we are in the process of renovating," said Carla Scissors-Cohen, who serves on the board of directors of the Lift for Life Gym. She is marred to Lift for Life founder and director Marshall Cohen.

The Cohens said there is vacant property in the downtown St. Louis neighborhood that could be obtained if needed for the proposed middle school.

Marshall Cohen said the group met recently with the superintendent of the St. Louis School District. He said the superintendent voiced support for the proposed charter school.

In the past, St. Louis school officials have voiced strong opposition to charter schools.

Marshall Cohen said Lift for Life doesn't want "to steal" students from the public school district. About 4,000 students are enrolled in the St. Louis public school system.

Charter schools are public schools too but operate separately from the district. They can't pick and choose the students they will enroll. The Cohens said they expect there will be a waiting list of students who want to enroll in the middle school.

The school initially would operate with a director, a principal, three full-time teachers, two part-time teachers, a part-time counselor, a part-time administrative assistant and a part-time custodian, according to the plan presented to the university.

The director would report to the academy's board of directors. The university would have no role in the day-to-day operation of the school.

Funding would come from state aid as well as grants and private donations. Organizers have projected first-year expenses at $471,860, including $268,800 for personnel costs.

Revenue is projected at $502,810. That includes $390,000 in state foundation formula money, based on $6,500 per student.

The application assumes 100 percent student attendance, but evaluation team members said 90 to 94 percent attendance would be more realistic.

Carla Scissors-Cohen said the application is a working document and subject to change. "We welcome suggestions and comments," she told the evaluation team.