For the past year, parents and teachers advocated for change at a school in Manatee County, Fla. The Manatee School Board listened Tuesday, voting 4-1 to convert Lincoln Middle School to a charter.

Lincoln Memorial Academy will open in August 2018.

Only 22 other district-run public schools in Florida have converted to charters.

Parents and teachers argued the charter will enable the school to better serve its population, which includes large numbers of students who are learning to speak English, while providing more autonomy and accountability. Nearly 70 percent of students perform below grade level.

The Title I school now serves roughly 500 students in sixth through eighth grades. About 44 percent of its students are Hispanic. Every student receives free or reduced-price lunch.

Eddie Hundley, the principal of Lincoln, said the conversion will give him more autonomy to meet students’ needs. He wants to support the school's English language learners (ELL) with new staff and programs.

Hundley and Lia Kaiser, a language arts and Spanish teacher who helps run programs for students who speak English as a second language, spoke with redefinED about their plans. The responses below are lightly edited for length, clarity and order.

Q: Why do you think converting to a charter will improve the learning experience for students?

A: Kaiser: We can better serve them.  They have dreams and aspirations and what is keeping them [back] is the language acquisition. We are trying to make them as successful as possible so they will be ready for high school. If we give them these tools to be successful in high school and they graduate high school, the possibilities are large they will go to college and change not only their lives but the lives of their families.

Hundley: We will extend the student instructional day by an hour to better provide enrichment and academic support. In addition, [we'll gain] the flexibility to offer classes and programs specific to our particular clientele.

Q: What are some of the ways you intend to help ELL students?
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When Kevin Jackson learned about a grassroots effort to convert his daughter’s middle school to a charter, he became newly hopeful about improving student achievement. In recent years, the Manatee County school has mostly been stuck at a "C" letter grade or below.

“I am so excited for my community and for the parents,” he said. Lincoln Middle School “has developed a negative stigma as far as the area. Now we get an opportunity to compete with the best.”

Jackson said the charter school would have more flexibility to create programs tailored to students’ needs. About 44 percent of the school’s population is Latino, he said, and every student is on free and reduced lunch.

“A charter would allow us to venture outside the box to give our Hispanic population different resources,” he said.

If the change takes place, Lincoln will join 22 other schools that also converted to charters with a majority vote from parents and teachers.

Florida law allows parents and teachers to convert any traditional public school to a charter by petition. But that rarely happens. In some places, administrators and teachers have faced retaliation for aiding conversion efforts, even though the law protects them.

In Manatee County, however, at some key officials support the change. Their district is home to one past charter conversion, and it looks like a success. Rowlett Academy for Arts and Communication did well as an elementary school, and it's set to add middle grades this fall.

At Lincoln, the principal, a teacher and parents argue such a change will enable the school to better serve its population while providing more autonomy and accountability.

A call to change

Concerns about Lincoln’s performance prompted teachers and parents to come together to lobby for change. Nearly 70 percent of students perform below grade level. (more…)