The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board will be in Columbus on Monday looking to hear from the public regarding a proposed charter school.
Organizers behind Inspire Charter School were in Jackson on Wednesday to meet with, and be interviewed by, the state board. The next step in the process is a community input session, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Genesis Church on 23rd Street North.
Kenneth McFarland, one of the proposed school’s leaders, encouraged the community to attend the event so they can ask questions and learn how a charter school would benefit local children.
“It’s not for us to talk, it’s for the community to talk,” McFarland said. “We are a grassroots effort and we like to make sure all people are involved and all people that have an opinion can be heard. This would be the time to do it.”
Inspire Charter School is one of two schools in the state hoping to be granted a charter by the authorizer board. ICS has previously applied for a charter. They were denied earlier this year.
Since their original application, leaders of the proposed Columbus school altered the grades that Inspire Charter School would serve. Originally, the school hoped to serve kindergarten through third grade, as well as a ninth grade. In the second application, the group said it would focus solely on kindergarten through third grade. The proposed school would be located at Genesis Church in Columbus where Darren Leach, the school’s executive director, serves as head pastor.
The group has named Reddell Holmes as the proposed principal, according to Leach. Holmes is a native of the Golden Triangle who has served as a school superintendent in Michigan. He resigned from that position in late 2012, according to Michigan-based news agency M Live.
The state authorizer board will announce a decision on Dec. 5 on whether to grant the Columbus group a charter.
McFarland said the group is excited and hopeful as they head into the last stages of the charter school process.
“We’ve done a lot of work,” he said. “We believe that we’ve done everything we could do in order to sustain ourselves and pull ourselves together to make this happen.”
McFarland said the group is not attempting to compete with the Columbus Municipal School District but said locals need options when it comes to children’s education.
“We need a change,” he said. “We need something different. We need options — a change to make sure our kids are successful.”
McFarland said Monday’s meeting should last one hour.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.