COMMENT BY
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Converse, TX
COMMENT
Brooks Academy Of Science & Engineering in San Ant
This was an excellent school in the beginning. The Principal and Staff worked together to get parents involved. Parent involvement was extremely low and very difficult to get them involved. They worked with the students to make them all feel a part of the “Brooks Family”. The School Board decided not to renew the Principal’s contract for the 2010-2011 school year. This was extremely upsetting to the students as well as staff. A large number of the staff resigned and students moved to other schools after the Board announced it was not renewing the Principal’s contract. The Board never considered how this change would affect the school. After some research, I discovered that Charter Schools can pretty much do anything they want since they are publicly funded, but privately run. They are exempt from many public school rules and regulations, and operate independently. This school is run by Academica Management SW LLC. It has been said that certain board members also have an interest in Academica Management SW LLC as well as relatives working for the company. The bottom line is about profit. The new Principal is a very nice lady but does not have the experience to run a school. It was unfair to her to do away with all the former systems and implement all new systems. It was a disaster. Students were sitting around waiting the first week to get their schedules. Lunch accounts were not established until almost the end of the school year. Parents got a letter in the mail stating they owed hundreds of dollars and had to have it paid by the end of the school. This is just a few examples of the poorly planned transition. More government control is needed in Charter Schools to prevent disasters like this one.