The city of Newberry will provide a $2.2 million “financial safety net” to Newberry Community School Inc. as it works on its application to the state to convert Newberry Elementary School into a charter school.
Commissioners unanimously approved the funding after a brief presentation by Derek Danne, the new chairman of the Newberry Community School board, in which he shared updates on the group’s application to the Florida Charter Review Commission.
Without providing details, Danne said teachers at the school will see a salary increase, remain part of the Florida Retirement System and receive enhanced health benefits through a planned partnership with the city of Newberry.
“We’ve been working hard to make sure we take better care of our teachers,” he said.
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Danne also said that after conversations with teachers, the school plans to implement a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) curriculum that will focus less on standardized testing and more on real-world applications.
The nonprofit also says it has budgeted for transportation and food services for all students attending the school.
“We are excited about these key points in our application,” said Danne. “We’re excited to present this to the people of Tallahassee, we’re excited to get their review and approval.”
Danne then proceeded to outline the requested funds, which totaled $2,201,000. That number includes what Newberry Community School already owes the city for its cooperation in the conversion, as well as costs associated with the application process.
Newberry Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Dallas Lee wrote in an email to The Sun in October that the city had paid just over $33,000 in charter-related expenses at the time: $23,000 to Folds Walker LLC and Arnold Law to write the charter application and $10,000. to the Osmanthus Group to manage the project.
The terms of the financing, as outlined in a letter from Danne to the committee, call for a repayment plan beginning in January 2030 with semi-annual payments over 30 years and a balloon payment of $75,000 every five years. Any money lent would earn 1% interest.
“It is our hope and our goal that we do not have to use all of these funds, that we intend to exhaust all other sources of public and private dollars that are available for the creation of this school,” Danne said.
Commissioner Mark Clark raised the possibility that grants could be used by the school board to pay back borrowed money more quickly.
Mayor Jordan Marlow agreed, saying that with the charter school not expected to open until August 2026, there is still plenty of time to “address all subsidies.”
“…good governance means we plan for the worst, we hope for the best, so we have planned for the worst, the worst is, the city is the financial safety net, the best is we get subsidies that are already cover these costs and the city will never have to borrow a dime. And we’ll see how it plays out as we move forward…,” Marlow said.
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The funding is subject to approval of the board’s application, which is expected to happen in February. However, it is unclear whether the application will be approved under a state rule that has since been changed and calls for a majority of teachers and parents at a school seeking a charter conversion to approve the measure.
In April, it was determined that exactly half of the parents at Newberry Elementary voted in favor of charter conversion after a parent ballot was found in a teacher envelope and then thrown away.
The State Board of Education in August amended the rule (6A-6.0897) governing the voting process for charter school conversions as it pertains to teacher and parent voting. Under the updated rule, only 50% of teachers and 50% of parents — instead of a majority — need to vote in favor of a charter conversion proposal for it to pass.
The amended rule also notes that the application for charter conversion “must be filed during the calendar year in which the vote is held.” However, it is unclear whether a charter conversion vote this year before the approved amendment, such as the one at Newberry Elementary, would be affected by the change.
This article originally appeared in The Gainesville Sun: Newberry to act as ‘financial backstop’ for planned charter school
