Winston-Salem’s Carter G. Woodhouse School is illustrative of increased statewide charter school enrollment. Woodhouse has also performed better academically, meeting federal testing standards two years in a row.
But not everyone’s happy about Woodhouse’s success:
Charter schools get a set amount of money from the school system for every child they enroll. If Woodson’s enrollment increases by 84 students, as is projected for 2007-08, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools will have to pay more money to the school. Woodson currently has 303 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
In the impact statement that the school system must send to the state any time a charter school wants to increase enrollment by more than 10 percent, local school officials said that the situation will result in a large financial loss.
“In summary, using the most optimistic assumption, a school with 84 additional students by 2007-08 will result in a projected net loss of over $540,000 to the WS/FCS,” the impact statement said in part.
The competition is getting tougher.
