The Smart School Institute of Technology and Commerce, (The Smart School), got a temporary reprieve Tuesday when the Broward School Board voted unanimously (7-0, with 2 absentees) to delay the decision to close the Lauderdale Lakes’ charter school. The board’s vote deferred the decision to put the school on notice that the district would be shutting it down, because of consisting F rating in the FCAT examinations.

Ever since the FCAT school grades were announced a few weeks ago, there were indications that the school was in danger of being closed by the Broward School District.  This was the third time in four years that the school was receiving an F rating, and according to state rules a public school should be closed after receiving three F grades.

Before the vote on Tuesday, there was a huge outcry from students, parents and members of the community against the school’s closure. Several calls had been made on radio talk shows to save the school and on Tuesday over a hundred people turned out in support of the school.

One of these supporters, Dawn Thurgood, a parent whose daughter recently graduated from the school bitterly criticized using the FCAT scores to ensure the success of the school. She said, and this was verified by a teacher from the school, that the school does not focus on the FCAT as a criteria for graduation, but rather exams like the ACT and SAT which are important exams to get students into a college. “As a matter of fact,” Thurgood said, “my daughter graduated from here, and straight away got accepted into FAU based on her grades.”

A Smart School teacher, on conditions of anonymity told National Weekly that too much emphasis was placed on the FCAT, as the exam is not a true reflection of a student’s educational level. “Plus, the pressure of the exam is making nervous wrecks of our students,” she said.

Charter schools have become popular with parents in recent years, primarily because they are operated privately, although they are public schools. The schools operators sign contracts with school district, giving the districts limited oversight but they have some freedom over curriculum. However, if they fail the FCAT, they risk sanctions and closure.



Interestingly, the school board members were critical of the FCAT and its importance in factoring grades under Florida's school accountability plan. Some members were reported as saying that it would have been hypocritical to be critical of the FCAT and still use the test scorers as a basis for closing Smart School.

It is understood that Broward School District Superintendent Jim Notter gave board members the option of deferring the vote to allow the district to negotiate a plan with the state Department of Education to keep the school open.



There is no guarantee despite Tuesday’s vote that the school will be eventually saved. It is unlikely that the state will tolerate the school to maintain F ratings, contrary to its policy. Last year after it received its second F grade the school got a state-required overhaul. It is understood that the school needs to boost its score by at least 59 points to improve to a D level. It only improved by 6 points this year over last year. One of the school’s founders and board member, Jocelyn Carter-Miller was reported as saying that the school definitely intends to boost its FCAT scores.