Parents, staff fighting to save small charter school

DELCO, NC (WWAY) — One Columbus County charter school is fighting for its life this week against the state boards of charter schools and education.

In the two years it’s been open, SEGS Academy in Delco has seen their share of financial crisis. With money going to salaries, busing, rent and instructional materials, SEGS academy is in the red — about $28,000 in the red to be precise. The State Board of Education is now threatening to revoke the charter. It may be a small school but according to School Leader Annmarie Johnston, the SEGS Academy Charter School is doing big things for under-serviced kids in Columbus County.

“The kids for the first time in their career of going to school, love coming to school,” Johnston said. “The school really was founded with a vision of helping disadvantaged and under-served students. And that was really the drive in getting this school up and running.”

Parents and faculty are saying that is not an accurate representation of the school.

“I feel like the people that are out in Raleigh, they don’t necessarily have the appropriate perspective because they can’t see the school,” Bob Handlin said. “All they can see is the reports and some of the other information that has been coming across.”

Bob Handlin started SaveSEGS.org; he’s hoping he can help state officials see that SEGS Academy deserves a second chance.

“There’s a crisis here that’s not of the doing of people at the school,” Handlin said. “And what we felt might help is to get people aware of what’s going on here.”

SaveSEGS.org features information about the school as well as the petition to present to the state board at their meetings later this week.

“The people here feel like they have a calling to help these kids,” Handlin said. “And they feel like they’re doing it. And they’re heartbroken at the possibility that it might go away.”

SEGS Academy will be presenting their plea to the Board of Education later this week to save what they call “The Little School that Could.” Johnston said the school has recently taken this matter very seriously and dissolved their old board. Officials said they have managed to balance the budget and now have a list of candidates to consider for a new board for the school’s future.