The Newberry Community School nonprofit, which submitted an application last week to the state to convert Newberry Elementary School into a charter school, included in that application a budget that projects $5,448,401 of income and $5,420,703 in expenses during the school’s first year of operation.
By the fifth year of operation, the school would be drawing a $7,350,900 income and spending $7,312,468, with 252 more students than when it began, according to projections.
The budget plans for an enrollment of 694 students in the first year, 712 in the second year, 730 in the third year, 924 in the fourth year and 946 in the fifth year.
Newberry Elementary had 656 students including preschool and Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK) students, according to Alachua County Public Schools spokeswoman Jackie Johnson. Without them, enrollment is 614.
Current enrollment does not include fifth graders, who were moved to Oak View Middle School over a decade ago to mitigate growth on the west end of the county.
Even without fifth graders, and not including preschool and VPK students, NES is at 130% of its 471-student capacity, based on ACPS data.
The charter school budget includes $182,400 each year for the first three years to pay the leases on the school’s current 16 portables at a rate of $950 per month. In Year 4, the total annual cost jumps to $326,400 for the original 16 portables, plus another four portables that would cost $3,000 each per month. One more $3,000 per month portable would be added in Year 5.
The portables added in Years 4 and 5 would also cost $120,000 and $30,000 to install.
The budget also includes a planning year, or Year 0, leading up to the planned launch in fall 2026 if the state approves the charter application. During the planning year, the NCS plans to spend $1,118,825 out of a loan from the city of Newberry.
The city commission approved a letter of intent to fill the $1,725,000 loan, with interest expected to make NCS’s 30-year repayment reach about $2 million.
NCS’s budget plans to receive $1.5 million in the first planning year, spending most on staff and board member payments, benefits and travel, and materials such as furniture, textbooks and computers, and keeping the rest as “cash on hand.”
Based on projected enrollment numbers for kindergarten through fifth grade, the budget assumes that 33% of students will ride the bus, so it projects over $93,000 in student transportation funds in Year 1, rising each year after that with enrollment.
The budget also assumes that 47% of students will qualify for free and reduced lunches (FRL), with 75% of them participating in lunch. This results in almost $67,000 reimbursement from the National School Lunch Program, after a six-month delay during the first year.
The budget assumes 50% of FRL students will participate in breakfast, bringing a $23,890 reimbursement after the six-month delay in Year 1. By selling student lunches and breakfasts to the rest of the students, the budget projects another $126,693 of income.
The total income projected for Year 1 comes out to $5,448,401, including school lunches, an in-kind gift from the city to fund a school resource officer, FEFP funding for everything from a safe schools allocation to a class size reduction allocation, child-care fees for before and after school, One Mill funds at $800 per unweighted full-time enrolled student, and the loan pledged by the city.
With an expectation of 26 classroom teachers in Year 1, the budget for that year allocates $1,378,000 for teacher salaries, with the average salary listed at $53,000, with annual 2% raises and a 1.5% highly effective increase. Another $199,500 is allocated for specialty teachers for topics such as PE, music and art, with an average salary also listed at $53,000 with the same raise scheduling.
Another $106,000 is set aside for Exceptional Education teachers, with $53,000 being the average salary, and raises scheduled the same as other instructors.
The budget also plans $36,000 for substitute teachers and $54,400 for paraprofessionals, with an average salary of $27,200.
The people DID NOT want this. They voted NO. The corrupt commission (let’s not forget formerly led by a pedophile) pushed it through anyway. The lack of ethics here is galling. This is a right wing takeover of the schools, and believe it or not, not everyone thinks that’s a good idea. If your child has an IEP/504, you can forget getting the services you need. And how is the mayor’s involvement not a conflict of interest? And how is the treasurer of the PTO allowed to be a part of this? One sure thing about small towns, it’s a good old boys club. Newberry will suffer because of this decision.
Working closely within the school & volunteering in class with the teachers, it’s evident how Newberry Elementary has been severely neglected by the School Board for decades. Classes are overfilled at 130% from just grades 1-4. (5th grade has been at Oakview Middle School for 15 plus years.) Teachers are overstretched, unappreciated, underpaid and under supported. Students are being pushed through multiple grades. How is a single teacher expected to effectively teach 4 grade math when some children are leaning division, while other’s are still struggling with subtraction? The entire school board needs a change, but Newberry can only fight for it’s own.
I’m so thrilled to live in a community that is willing to fight for our kids and their futures; a community who values their incredible teachers and willing to pay fair wages and provide the necessary resources. I have three kids with IEP’s and one with a 504. I’m not in the slightest worried about them getting the services they need.
A note to all: When you hear all the awful things the anti-charter side is saying and it seems quieter on the “yes” side. Please know. The “yes” side is tired of fighting at such a toxic low level the “no’s” have brought to these discussions. We are tired of defending the same and most time, false attacks. We are conserving our energy for the positive future before our kids. We are just have more emotional maturity in our decision making.
Lastly: The actions of one person do not define a group. Please google… “Alachua County Teacher arrested…..” and see how many horrible criminal offenses teachers employed by the SBAC have made and been convicted for. The offender mentioned in the above post was also employed by the SBAC as the middle school boys basketball coach. They continue to condemn the “yes” side for one person, but don’t hold the SBAC accountable for them hiring multiple offenders, placed in close proximity to children.
Life is better in Newberry and I’m so proud to be apart of it! I hope you’ll consider supporting a much better future for our children.