Quest school backtracks, to open at 1st site

Quest Middle School of West Little Rock, a charter school for grades six through eight, will proceed with its original plan to open in August on Rahling Road after an alternative site was rejected earlier this month by the state Board of Education.

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Quest school

The school's ability to open for the 2014-15 school year had been in doubt after the state board's May 8 vote against the proposed relocation of the school to Hardin Road.

Chris Baumann, general counsel for Responsive Education Solutions of Lewisville, Texas -- the school's sponsoring organization -- announced Thursday morning the plan to open the school at 1815 Rahling Road in the northwest part of the city.

He did so shortly after the Education Department's Charter Schools Office sent him a letter of approval from Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell.

"Following efforts to relocate the Quest charter school, your organization now seeks debt approval for a lease at the original approved location at 1815 Rahling Road," Kimbrell wrote to Baumann. "I note that the proposed monthly rent [$41,000] is slightly less than the original rent amount [$41,365.50] listed in the facilities utilization agreement.

"Based upon the information provided to me, I approve the debt/lease request for Quest to begin operations at 1815 Rahling Road for the 2014-15 school year," Kimbrell said.

Gary Newton, executive director of the Arkansas Learns organization that advocates for school choice, was one of the leaders of a parent group that in 2013 invited Responsive Education Solutions to establish a charter school in the growing northwest section of the city.

"We took the decision of the state board and have been working feverishly since that afternoon," Newton said Thursday about returning to the original site. "We have a lot of relieved parents."

Responsive Education Solutions, which operates three other charter schools in Arkansas and dozens of charter schools in Texas, was invited by the parents to open the charter campus out of frustration that there are no public middle or high schools in close proximity to the area.

The charter organization applied to the Education Department for a state charter to open a school that would initially serve grades six through eight and expand over time to the 12th grade. The Rahling Road address -- an unfinished storefront shell -- was the site selected by the organization for the school location.

The state Education Department's Charter Authorizing Panel approved the charter school plan in November. The state Education Board reviewed and approved the plan in January over the objections of the Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school districts.

In February, Responsive Education Solutions applied for an amendment to the charter to move the school to 400 Hardin Road to an office building that the organization intended to purchase at a lower cost than the lease price for the building on Rahling.

Hardin Road is a cul de sac off Financial Centre Parkway, just west of the busy Shackleford Road and Interstate 630 intersection.

Responsive Education leaders said the lower price, and the proximity to feeder elementary schools and to central Little Rock families, made the site attractive.

About 180 children had registered to attend the school at the Hardin site.

The Education Department's Charter Authorizing Panel -- made up of top-level staff members at the agency -- unanimously approved the relocation March 21 over the objections of the Little Rock district and users of neighboring properties on Hardin Road who were concerned about increased traffic at Hardin Road and Financial Centre Parkway.

The state board balked this month at the proposed change to the school's address, voting to reject the amendment after hearing from the attorneys for the two districts and representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey that is across the street from the building that was proposed for the school.

Baumann said in an interview after the board's vote that the school leaders would explore their options but that opening the school for the coming year was in doubt.

On Thursday, Baumann said that on the very same day the state board disapproved the Hardin Road site, the Rahling Road landlord reached out to the school planners to try to begin negotiations again.

"That was very kind," Baumann said of John A. Rees. "It was very helpful."

Alan Wimberley, the chief learning officer for Responsive Education Solutions, posted the news about the opening of the original Rahling Road site on the Quest Middle School of West Little Rock's Facebook page. He said efforts are being made to hire staff members and order curriculum materials and technology.

"There is still much to do to get ready for the opening day in August, and the work is worth it," Wimberly wrote.

In an interview, Wimberley said school leaders had continued in recent days to intereview candidates for teaching jobs and take other steps to be prepared for opening in the event that a lease agreement would be reached.

In regard to student registration that began in March, the sixth grade is full, with an enrollment of 95 and nine more on the waiting list. There are 42 seventh-graders registered for the coming school year, with 33 spots still available. There are 43 eighth-graders registered, with 32 spots available, Wimberley said.

Wimberley said he was unaware of any parents who had withdrawn a child's registration after the state board rejected the Hardin Road site.

According to the correspondence between Responsive Education Solutions and the agents for Two Rahling Centre -- John A. Rees and John Aaron Rees -- the building will be ready for occupancy Aug. 15.

The lease terms for 2014 call for a minimum monthly rent payment of $35,000 plus approximately $6,000 a month for taxes, insurance and related expenses all to be paid by Responsive Education Solutions.

The lease is for five years with an option to extend to 10 years. The minimum monthly rent payment would increase to $38,000 in the second five-year period.

Additionally, the school planners will pay for improvements to the site -- finishing the inside of the building -- at a total cost of $450,000.

Jody Carreiro, a member of the Little Rock School Board, said Wednesday that he was not surprised by the Responsive Education's decision to return to the Rahling site, saying that the school planners had probably invested too much in the plan to let it go for a year.

Carreiro also said the Little Rock School District is continuing to move toward constructing a secondary school in the northwest part of the city.

The district purchased land last year on Katillus Road, off Cantrell Road near Don Roberts Elementary School, for a new campus. The district is in the middle of a districtwide facility study that Carreiro believes will show that the school district needs an additional middle school.

Forest Heights Middle School at University and Evergreen streets has been the attendance-zone school for the northwest part of the city. With the redesign of Forest Heights into a science, math and technology academy for kindergarten through eighth grades, Henderson Middle School on John Barrow Road will now be the attendance school for much of the northwest section.

A section on 05/23/2014

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