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No House Support Yet for Bill that would allow Charter School to Locate in High Point Town Center

BY SARAH STEPHENS

ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS

A bill introduced by Senator Clyde Chambliss related to Ivy Classical Academy wanting to locate in Prattville’s High Point Town Center is still waiting on House support before it could become a law.

Senate Bill 297 was first introduced by Chambliss in March. The bill as introduced and amended and reported by the Committee on Education Policy allows public charter school facilities, located within the corporate limits of a municipality located within two counties, to be located up to one mile outside of the boundaries of the local school system where the charter exists. This bill will not directly affect state or local funding.

The passage of this bill is critical for supporters of Ivy Classical Academy and board members, as they would like to locate the school in the High Point Town Center. Because the Center is located in Elmore County, and not Autauga, the change in legislation is crucial.

On their application, Ivy Classical Academy calls itself an Autauga County School. That application was approved by the Alabama State Charter School Commission, with Ivy Classical Academy recognized as an Autauga County School.

High Point is located in Prattville, but on the Elmore County side of the city’s boundaries.

As of 4:30 p.m. today, April 22, no one from the House of Representatives has taken on the legislation, to show support and introduce it for consideration. Without that, the bill will fail in this legislative session.

If the legislation fails, then school officials would be required to keep searching for a location that is actually within Autauga County to match up with their application.

“The bill is kind of stalled right now because there is no known support for it in the House,” Senator Clyde Chambliss told the EAN earlier this week. “With probably 100 bills trying to get through Senate, leadership looks at bills with the best chance for passage. The Charter school is working on finding House sponsorship. This is a general bill, so anyone in the House could sponsor the bill. It would not have to be a House member from that district.”

However, time is growing critically short for the bill to go to a full vote.

According to Chambliss, it takes a minimum of five legislative days to pass a bill, from introduction to final passage.

Earlier this week, he told the EAN “The bill has already been introduced, and it has committee approval. But about three more days would be needed, and that would require a sponsor from the House. So, this really all comes down to whether or not it gets that (House) support. And this bill has nothing to do with whether or not Prattville decides to help fund the Charter School. That is a separate issue entirely.”

As the bill still does not have a House sponsor, the likelihood of it being brought up for a final vote is technically still possible, but unlikely.

Even without the bill passing, the Charter School can still become reality. Under the school’s accepted application, the location would have to be somewhere within Autauga County, either in an existing building, or built on Autauga County property from the ground up. The latter would be a very expensive venture, which is why the possibility of moving into High Point Town’s Centers long-vacant buildings was preferred.

The interest in the school has been high, and at last count 800 students were pre-registered. According to Academy Founder Bradley Neave, the school hopes to be open in August of 2022, and would be able to accept 642 students in grades K-6. The plan thereafter is to add one school year for each year until reaching K-12 status.

The desire of the school is to host Autauga County students. However, in the event enough students from Autauga did not enroll, spots would have been available to other counties. It is likely all available slots will be filled, with not all of those who pre-registered getting in, even if they are from Autauga County.

The Charter School would be a tuition-free, public school. Funding would come from the state, just like any other public school. Priority would be given to board members’ and school staff members’ children for enrollment first as long it does not exceed 10 percent of the student population. Thereafter it would be open to all Autauga County students. If there is still capacity available, it would open up to all other students, including Elmore County students and surrounding counties. However, the successful student population would be based on a random selection process, such as a lottery system. What this means is that even if parents pre-enroll their children, there is no guarantee they will be accepted.

In the first year of operation Ivy Classical Academy would be a K-6th grade facility. The plan is to add an additional grade each year, until reaching K through 12th grade.

For more information on details of the school’s plan, visit their website at ivyclassical.com

On the website you will find information on how to pre-enroll students in the program if you are interested. You can also follow the school on their Facebook page found at https://www.facebook.com/ivyclassical