Bridges Charter School Fights to Stay Open

Bridges Charter School Fights to Stay Open

July 17, 2012 |

Bridges Charter School is near Elkin in Wilkes County. Its student population is 150 in K through 8th grade. But on Wednesday, July 11, the State Board of Education voted to begin the process of determining whether or not to revoke the schools operating charter. Bridges opened in 1997 with the mission to serve students "failing to thrive" in traditional public schools. According to the state, during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years, fewer than 60 percent of Bridges students were proficient in required subjects and failed to meet learning targets. Bridges is appealing this vote.

School administrators say 40% of their students are listed as special needs children. According to the Bridges' attorney Philip Adkins, test scores dropped after school administrators followed poor advice from state officials to make certain test changes. "The office of charter schools told Bridges they needed to change the testing they were doing from administering the special needs test to a regular test with accommodations," explains Adkins. "So the special needs students were taking the same test that regular students were taking. And as a result, a lot of the special needs students didn't do well on that test, the state test. But we can show through internal testing that's nationally normed, these students would have done well if they had taken the test designed for special needs students."

Adkins says if the special needs students had taken the test designed for them, a majority would have scored well. And the school's overall test scores would be well above 60%. Now Bridges is sending a letter appealing the revocation process to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction's Office of Charter Schools. Then, a state review committee has 30 days to make a recommendation. If the state board still approves revoking the school's charter, Bridges will appeal further to the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings. Meanwhile, Bridges administrators say they will hold classes this fall.