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Patel Charter Soon May Become Public School

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By LENORA LAKE

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 29, 2008

TAMPA - The struggling University of South Florida Patel Charter School, which received an F grade from the state this month, may become part of the Hillsborough County School District as early as next week.

The charter school's board unanimously approved a resolution in a special conference call this morning to explore having the district take over operation of the school.

Superintendent MaryEllen Elia, participating in the conference call, said she would present the information to the school board at its meeting this afternoon. The school board then could vote on the proposal it its meeting Aug. 5 and begin operating the school when the school year begins on Aug. 18.

The school, which opened in 1998 in temporary facilities, moved to its current location on the USF campus in 2004. It serves about 220 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Charter schools are privately operated institutions that receive public funding but are free of many of the state mandates. However, they must meet academic standards.

Teachers and staff were to be informed of the decision at 1 p.m. today.

Ralph Wilcox, USF Patel's board president and university provost, said Principal L. Rylene Stein submitted her resignation Monday. Rylene's last day will be Aug. 8, and she will retire from education to become a missionary in the British West Indies. She has been principal at Patel for three years.

Wilcox, speaking to nine of the 10 board members who were able to participate in the conference call, along with Elia and USF President Judy Genshaft, said, "In a time of diminishing resources, it has been abundantly clear that we do not have the resources to fulfill the needs of our students."

Elia, who classified the students as "at-risk," promised to do everything possible to help the children.

Though 75 percent of the third-graders were on grade level, only 50 percent of the fourth-graders and 39 percent of the fifth-graders were.

Wilcox said the USF College of Education would partner with the school district at the school as it does with Pizzo Elementary, which also is on the USF campus.

Genshaft told the board, "We will be able to interact even more with it being a Hillsborough County school. We are not permitted to use state funds on a charter school."

If the school district takes it over, Elia said, students already enrolled would be given the chance to stay. Students would not be assigned there – at least for this year.

Teachers would be given opportunities to apply for other positions in the district; some might be asked to stay at the school. The principal position would be advertised, and if necessary, a retired principal would be placed there temporarily -- as some are available as consultants to the district.

"We don't expect to change the overall profile and the type of students it serves," Elia said.

Board members had been notified by Genshaft of the situation before the conference call.

Board member Louis Conte, a lawyer with Holland & Knight, said, "This was a great surprise. We had been receiving what I considered fairly positive reports."

Correspondent Lenora Lake can be reached at (813) 865-4851 or llake@tampatrib.com.

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