Finding a Location

Part I – Rocky Mount Charter School (RMCS) -Renovation of Facilities

Finding a location in which to start up or successfully operate a charter school poses what will very likely be your biggest and most problematic issue to contend with. Do you build a school facility from the ground up, do you renovate a building already sitting empty, or do you imagine setting up a modular campus for either short of long-term use? I will attempt to address each of these possibilities, with the goal of helping you determine which best suits your charter school's individual needs.

Rocky Mount Charter School (later renamed Rocky Mount Preparatory School) obtained its charter in 1998 through the support of three influential community members, each of whom personally co-signed on a loan of about $800,000 to renovate an empty J.C. Penney store located in what was then known as the Tarrytown Mall in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

The loan was initially secured through a credit union in Durham, North Carolina and Centura Bank, one of the largest in the state. It was a tremendous advantage to have the former CEO of this bank on the Board of Directors. Before the school opened and seeing a need for assistance in running the school, the board contracted with an educational management company (EMO), with the goal of helping the school with financial support and assistance in implementing curricular/educational programs at the school.

The school opened in August 1998, with three classes for each grade, kindergarten through fifth, adding a new grade (with a need for three new classrooms) each school year after that. The former J.C Penny facility consisted of a total of about 60,000 square feet. There was square footage allocated in the operational plans for the eventual build-out of the school to grade eight, to include a gym in what was once used as a warehouse by the department store.

The school opened with 600 students in kindergarten through fifth. The school had THREE Principals in the period August 1998 through March 1999, when I arrived. From what I was told my first day on the job in March 1999, the first Principal contracted with quit within two weeks, noting the job was too much for them; the second was let out of their contract when it was determined their spouse thought the job too time consuming; while the third was identified as an "Interim Principal," supplied by the management company, with the intent to only serve in the position until Rocky Mount Charter's Board of Directors could find the next school leader, who happened to be yours truly. The issue of "Hiring Administrative Leaders" is covered in Chapter 6.

In August of 1999, the school began its second school year and was prepared to serve three new classes of sixth graders (our fifth graders had moved up a grade). A new playground was complete (constructed by parents and staff members) and the former warehouse was now operational as a gym. As part of the original charter, we used twelve school-owned busses to transport our mostly urban student population to and from school each day. I will provide more information on bus cost in a later chapter.

Only a month later, in early September, Hurricane Dennis rumbled through eastern North Carolina with torrential rains, the water not seeming to want to be absorbed into the ground, but just lying there on the surface. After a one week respite from the bad weather, Hurricane Floyd made its way into Eastern North Carolina, wreaking havoc in its path. Rocky Mount Charter was located in a one hundred year flood plain, so no could realistically expect what would happen next.

As Hurricane Floyd passed through Rocky Mount and rain continued to fall, the city became composed of three "islands," those above water on high ground, those with moderate flooding and those underwater. It was a sad sight indeed when I was able to travel to the school and measured the water line, which was 5'2" above ground level, totally destroying what was an $800,000 investment in this charter school.

While the school was much more than a "business" to the school's Board of Directors, their intent was to go on, no matter what. I was personally advised by our board chair (R. Mauldin, personal communication, October 1999) that the EMO did not believe the school would ever be financially solvent after the flood; therefore they would willingly negate their contract with the school. It was determined that the school had flood insurance and these funds were split equally between the two parties. The policy was around $500,000, so although some money was recovered it was not enough to make up for the loss of the school facility, only enough to keep the school operating, somewhere.

Part II –RMCS Moves in Churches

We were out of school for only two weeks, after which time, with assistance from our influential Board of Directors, we moved into three church sites in Rocky Mount; three hundred students located at two different churches in the downtown area and one hundred students at a third church, located some five miles away from the downtown area. This was initially perceived as a logistical "nightmare," but a staff composed...