BY GWEN HAYES

Sentinel Editor

                What has been brewing for several weeks at A. T. Jones Math Science and Technology Academy, came to an end on Monday when the Hillsborough County School Board voted unanimously to take the school’s charter.

In spite of the revocation, Bob Morrison, a member of the A. T. Jones Academy board, said, “We were, as a board, pleased with the academic results of the scholars in 2 years.  The K-2 students showed a 95% proficiency in the national standardized test, and the 3-4-5th grade scholars exceeded the district and state statistics in 5 of 8 categories. This shows the education model was working,” he explained.

The School District stated last week that the school was in trouble because of its lack to turn in monthly financial statements.

Morrison said, business-wise three things happened. 1) The 2011 Legislature cut funding in K-12 by $500 per student, which meant the school received $100,000 less in revenue in year 2 than it did in year 1; 2) 3 key academic components were not considered part of the core curriculum – they were electives – Mandarin Chinese, technology and physical education daily. The salaries for 6 teachers for these courses went up to $220,000. And 3), between October and February, the student count dropped from 230 to 200, mainly because parents were moving out of the area, out of state, or couldn’t afford gas prices. By mid-March, the school was losing $22,000 per month, Morrison further explained.

At that point the officials of the academy made 2 commitments: 1) to make sure the current obligations were met and 2) not to open in 2012-2013 unless they raised the needed donations through their “Proposal For Support.”

“We’ve met most, if not all, of our current obligations. Because we’ve spent so much effort in closing out the current year successfully, did not have the time to partake in the fundraising.

“From a business standpoint, it would not be feasible to start another year. We want to assure our parents, teachers and staff that we would have the financial backing to complete the upcoming year.”

Morrison stated that the parents were upset with the school closing because they were pleased with the educational progress of their children.