Board Votes to Close Charter School, Seek out Bids for HVAC & Collingwood Renovation

Two of the largest items on the agenda on Tuesday, July 14th, at the regular board meeting included the closing of Pace Career Central and the approval to seek bids for renovating the ailing HVAC system at the Collingwood Center.
First, the charter school situation: Pace Career Central, also known as Main Street Automotive, located in Dayton, Ohio, has been suspended and did not open for the 2008-09 schoolyear. At the meeting, it was voted to permanently close the school for failure to meet standards of accountability. This means that the school cannot re-open with another sponsor; when we, as a sponsor, pull that sponsorship, the school is finished. Thankfully, Dayton has a number of other schools where these students, who were mostly involved in drop-out recovery, can continue their education. Closing charter schools is no easy task, and certain specific legal protocols must be followed in order to be fair to all parties involved. While closing this school is a drop in the bucket, and we yet maintain sponsorship of 70 schools, it serves as a warning and an example: levels of accountability must be maintained, for this board is determined to serve its constituents with integrity and the highest standard of professionalism.
On the same topic of integrity and professionalism, it has come to the attention of the Building and Grounds Committee (chaired by Judy Hansen) that significant renovations are needed in the ailing heating/venting/air conditioning system at the Collingwood Center. While costly in the short run, the time to take action is now, as we are in the midst of a renovation project already, which will require a portion of the building to acquire an HVAC system. Additionally, we are receiving over $100,000 in funding for the building renovations (not the HVAC), since the area will be used by the State Support Team - Region 1, located in our building. At the meeting, we voted to allow bids to be pursued for this project.
On another note, please remember that if you are interested in running for a seat on the board, your time is growing short... there are three seats up for grabs this time around, and two in two years (2011 election year).
I encourage you to message me or post comments - I always learn a great deal from my audience - thanks for taking the time to visit the blog!