SOUTHEAST CHARTERS NEW SCHOOL; DICKERSON SAYS UNIVERSITY WON'T CHARTER TOO MANY

Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents Wednesday chartered a proposed middle school for at-risk sixth, seventh and eighth graders in St. Louis.

Board President Don Dickerson said the regents individually have varying views about the philosophy of charter schools, but state law allows for charter schools in St. Louis and Kansas City, and the board wouldn't "stonewall" the application of Lift for Life Gym.

The regents voted unanimously to approve its application.

The not-for-profit Lift for Life group operates an after-school program centered around weightlifting. The group wants to open a middle school this fall to serve students who may drop out of school, particularly those with low reading skills.

"We want it to work," said Dickerson. But he said Southeast can't afford to charter more than a few schools.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis has chartered two schools and Harris-Stowe State College has chartered another.

Dickerson told reporters after the meeting that the university couldn't supervise as many as five charter schools. At this point, no other applications have been submitted to Southeast.

The Lift for Life application still must pass muster with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. But B.C. DeSpain of Southeast's College of Education told the regents that DESE officials had indicated the charter proposal "looks great" and meets requirements of state law. DeSpain headed up an evaluation team that studied the application and recommended changes.

Approval by DESE could come within the next few weeks, said Marshall Cohen, founder and director of Lift for Life Gym.

Plans call for opening the school at the Lift for Life facility at 1415 Cass Ave. and relocating to other quarters in the second year. The Lift for Life Academy would enroll 60 sixth graders for the first school year and expand to 180 students in grades six, seven and eight combined within three years.

Cohen and his wife, Carla Scissors-Cohen, who serves on the Lift for Life board of directors, welcomed the regents' action.

"I look at this as a great partnership, and we are not going to let you down," Marshall Cohen said.

Dickerson and Regent Kim Mothershead attended the board meeting at the University Center as did university President Dr. Ken Dobbins. Dobbins had planned to link via telephone from the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education meeting in St. Joseph, but he changed his mind and attended.

Regents Doyle Privett, John Tlapek and Sarah Long were linked via conference call.

The Cohens agreed to make several changes in the lengthy charter document as suggested by the regents. The charter would extend for five years and then could be renewed with the approval of the university.

At least once a year the university in conjunction with the Lift for Life administration and staff will review the school's performance. The university won't be in charge of day-to-day operations. That will rest with Lift for Life officials and a school principal yet to be hired.

Southeast will have supervisory duties, but those still haven't been spelled out. The regents said the university will name a liaison to monitor the operation.

"We have limited resources to devote to this project," Dickerson told the Cohens.

Marshall Cohen said Lift for Life wants to call on the educational expertise of the university as needed. Carla Scissors-Cohen sees it as more of a consulting role. "We don't want this to be a burden on anyone," she said. "We will be hiring a professional staff. We are not educators."

Plans call for hiring a principal who will teach, three full-time teachers and a full-time counselor. There also is money budgeted for part-time teachers and a part-time custodian.

Dickerson said the university doesn't want to be involved in day-to-day operations of the middle school. "We would rather you not call us when the plumbing breaks down or the electricity goes off," he told the Cohens.

The charter requires criminal background checks on all personnel and volunteers with Lift for Life Academy. There would be a pre-employment drug screening, and driving records of employees would be checked.

Dickerson urged the Cohens to follow through with the background checks and report findings to the university's liaison.

The board president said the regents don't want to be faced with the problem that occurred in St. Louis involving a proposed charter school. Lamar Basil Beyah, chief executive officer of the proposed school, served 41 months in prison for stealing postal money orders.

Dickerson doesn't view charter schools as the long-range answer to problems in the St. Louis and Kansas City public schools. "We have to be careful of siphoning off badly needed money from the whole school system," he said.

Charter schools are funded largely with state aid. In Lift for Life's case, state foundation formula funding alone is expected to total more than $1 million in fiscal 2002, the academy's third year of operation.

Lift for Life Academy expects to spend more than $2.8 million over the next three fiscal years.