Tallahassee Classical's board chair refutes Leon School district's noncompliance letter

A local charter school accused of being in violation of its contract with the school district says the school has never been in non-compliance.

In a letter to the Leon County Schools superintendent, Tallahassee Classical School Board Chair Barney Bishop refutes the district claims that the charter school was in non-compliance of its charter contract because the number of board members did not meet requirements.

But the charter school's bylaws and their contract with the district state a different minimum number of board members, according to public records.

More: Leon Schools superintendent: Tallahassee Classical may be in violation of charter contract

While the bylaws state the board only needs a minimum of three board members, Tallahassee Classical's contract with the district states: "The general direction and management of the affairs of the School shall be vested in the Governing Board with a minimum of 5 members."

Both the bylaws and the charter contract are linked on the same page on the school's website.

Last week, Superintendent Rocky Hanna wrote a letter to Bishop, stating the charter school's board did not have a minimum of five members for more than 60 days, a violation of the charter school contract.

"...the contract states in relevant part the Sponsor may choose to terminate or not renew the Charter for failure to maintain the minimum number of governing board members for more than 60 days," states Superintendent Rocky Hanna.

On Jan. 19, the district informed then-principal Hope Carrasquilla that only four board members were listed on the schools website, the letter stated.

In his response, Bishop wrote the notification to the school about its lack of board members on Jan. 19 was insufficient because the notification was not sent to the board chair and the charter's bylaws state the board only needs three members.

"This situation is exactly why the Charter requires notice to be sent to the Chair of the Board -- to make sure the right people are made aware of such issues so appropriate action can be taken," Bishop stated in his letter.

Bishop argues in his letter that a section of the charter contract states that if the charter conflicts with Florida law, "the terms of the applicable Florida Statute, State Board Rule, or case law will control over the Charter."

"Since both the TCS bylaws and Florida law, only require three Board members the Charter requirement of having five Board members appears to be superseded by state law," Bishop wrote.

He also accused the district of being "out of compliance" because it emailed the letter, rather than mailing it via the post office, which he said is required by the contract.

Calls to both Bishop and Lawson Huck Gonzalez, the school's attorneys, were not returned.

Jeff Kottkamp, board attorney, said he could not answer why there was a discrepancy with the number of minimum board members in the bylaws and the charter contract.

In an email, Kottkamp wrote the board aims "to provide students with a world class classical education in a safe environment" and "to provide parents in our community an education option that best meets the needs of their child."

"The Board is more than capable of achieving those goals whether they have 3, 4, 5 or 11 Board members," he continued.

The district's letter to Tallahassee Classical is part of the district's attempts to ensure the schools are following their contracts and Florida law, said Leon County Schools spokesperson Chris Petley.

"We appreciate the timely response from Tallahassee Classical," Petley said. "We will be meeting internally next week to go over the information provided and will then meet in person with representatives from Tallahassee Classical for further discussion."

Curriculum and enrollment update from Tallahassee Classical

In a letter to parents, Tallahassee Classical School's Interim Headmaster Cara Wynn wrote the school hopes Hillsdale College reverses its decision to revoke the school's curriculum status but will pursue other instructional programs.

"They do not own the rights to most of the remainder of our curriculum which we plan to continue using," Wynn wrote.

Hillsdale College dropped Tallahassee Classical's affiliation and revoked its curriculum license last week as the news of the forced resignation of a principal traveled the globe.

More: Hillsdale cuts ties with Tallahassee Classical, revokes curriculum license after art outcry

Parents, teachers, the local community and readers across the globe have criticized the charter school after board members asked former principal Carrasquilla to resign or be fired in mid-March after parents complained about an art lesson about the renaissance period, which showed sixth graders Michelangelo’s sculpture “David” and the "Creation of Adam" fresco painting and Boticelli's "Birth of Venus.”

Carrasquilla said she believes parent complaints about the renaissance art lesson were the catalyst for her removal and that the art lesson was the one issue that Bishop stated why she needed to resign.

In Wynn's letter to parents, she said she plans to send some of the school's teachers to train with Literacy Essentials, a curriculum for K-3 grades that focuses on reading, phonics and spelling. Hillsdale also includes Literacy Essentials in its curriculum.

"I am confident that our school will continue to grow stronger because of the adversity we have faced," Wynn wrote.

Since Carrasquilla's resignation, 11 students have left Tallahassee Classical and plan to return to Leon County public schools and six have been pulled for homeschooling, according to Petley.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee Classical's board chair refutes Leon Schools' allegations