“Part of that formula is a management company that believes in what we believe in a management company that has vision, that has scope, a management company that understands the importance of not leaving any children behind,” Riddick explained. Riddick insisted that Torchlight is part of a formula he’s developing to create a successful charter school that can be replicated in North Carolina’s other 99 counties. Enrollment would top out at 225 students in grades K-8 by the fourth year of operation.Īpproximately, 1,800 children are currently enrolled in Perquimans County’s public schools, so the loss of 225 students, or about 12.5% of enrollment, would be felt severely by the district.ĭon McQueen’s Torchlight Academy Schools LLC was selected to manage Elaine Riddick Charter SchoolĪt a November Advisory Board meeting, Riddick was reluctant to sever ties with McQueen despite tough questions by board members about Torchlight’s non-compliance issues and a discussion about a contingency plan to move forward without the management company. Plans call for the school to open in August with 150 students in grades 1-5. The SBE previously approved a one-year delay in opening the school because its building was not ready, the school had not met enrollment requirements, and there were unresolved issues related to insurance. “So, their application for this year is done, correct?” White asked Dave Machado, director of the Office of Charter Schools for the NC Department of Public Instruction. Schools that are not approved during the fast-track process don’t proceed into the regular charter school application process, noted Amy White, who chairs the State Board’s Education, Innovation and Charter Schools Committee. Being “fast-tracked” means charter school applicants can skip the normally requisite planning year. It will decide next month whether to follow it. On Wednesday, the State Board of Education received the charter board’s recommendation to table the fast-track application. Neither McQueen nor Riddick could be reached for comment. Department of Education that the Office of Charter Schools provided the Board regarding Torchlight’s compliance issues. Policy Watch has requested a letter from the U.S. “The current non-compliance status would make it impossible for us to agree today for you to partner with Torchlight,” Advisory Board Chairwoman Cheryl Turner said during the board’s November meeting. The board found that McQueen’s non-compliance with federal rules for exceptional children at Torchlight Academy and Three Rivers Academy in Bertie County is significant enough to deny the application. Last month, the Charter School Advisory Board voted down Riddick’s fast-track application to open the school in August 2022. “In Pasquotank, in Perquimans, we fail the children by not giving them a choice.” “Students who are disadvantaged because of the educational system should be allowed a choice,” Riddick said, voice growing shrill, during an October Charter School Advisory Board meeting. Riddick selected McQueen’s Torchlight Academy Schools LLC to manage Elaine Riddick Charter School to provide parents and students an option to fulfill academic needs he contends are not met by Perquimans County Schools. Previous “compliance” issues of Torchlight Academy Schools leads advisory board to question proposal for Perquimans County charterĪ charter school Tony Riddick plans to open in Perquimans County and name after his mother, Elaine Riddick, the best-known victim of North Carolina’s now-defunct eugenics program, has hit a snag because of his relationship with Don McQueen, the operator of Torchlight Academy in Raleigh.
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