The North Carolina Charter Schools Review Board denied Tuesday morning an application for an all-boys charter school in Wilmington, submitted earlier this year by Rob Campbell, CEO and founder of nonprofit New H.O.P.E. CDC, and former New Hanover County Schools superintendent Charles Foust. 

Members of the review board expressed some support for the premise behind the proposed school, New H.O.P.E. Technology Preparatory Academy, which seeks to bridge the achievement gap for boys of color, but ultimately denied the application due to concerns over the budget, enrollment and governance.

The applicants may submit an appeal within ten days of the decision, which the State Board of Education will hear within 45 days of receiving the appeal request. The state board will review the appeal “de novo,” or anew from start to finish and must issue a written decision within 60 days of receiving a notice of appeal. 

The proposed school would serve students in grades 9 through 12 in a college preparatory model, with plans to start the first year serving 95 ninth-grade enrollees and add additional grade levels each subsequent year, to reach full enrollment by year five, with 95 students per grade level. The school would offer STEM classes, trade programs and dual-enrollment opportunities for students to earn their associate degrees. 

Members of the board expressed concerns over the submitted budget, the school’s enrollment goals and questioned whether there was adequate separation of “church and state,” as members of New H.O.P.E. CDC would serve as members of New H.O.P.E. Tech Prep. 

Notably, the state’s minimum enrollment requirement for charter schools is 80 students during its first year. 

“Your first year (goal) is 95 students,” said board member Lindalyn Kakadelis, who later moved to deny the proposal. “The breaking point is 80, as you know … if you come shorter than 80, you won’t open.”

Other board members questioned why New H.O.P.E. Prep Tech limited its applicant pool to high school students and capped class size at 95. Foust responded that the 95-student target supported better discipline and higher academic performance. 

“There is a need for high school and for us to focus on high school in our community,” Foust said. 

The proposed school would be located at 920 N. Sixth St., the current location of Purpose Church International, which Campbell said New H.O.P.E. CDC would purchase and provide to New H.O.P.E. Tech Prep without charging rent. According to Campbell, New H.O.P.E. CDC is currently under contract to purchase the church building and planned to seek funding from the New Hanover Community Endowment after receiving state approval. 

While the application outlined long-term facility plans involving purchasing and renovating the building, furnishings and upgrades, the budget spreadsheet allocates $0 for a facility lease, mortgage or renovations, which board members expressed concern about.

“After year one, you’re only at a $13,000 surplus,” said board member Bruce Friend during the meeting. “Anything that gets in the way of the scenario you just described really puts this budget in jeopardy.”

This is the second charter school application from New Hanover County to be denied in recent months. Darden-Perry Academy, a proposed English-American Sign Language dual-language immersion school, was denied in September. 

Todd Godbey, a member of the review board and CEO of Beacon Education and GLOW, an all-girls charter school in Wilmington, expressed support for the project and the founding board members but recommended fine-tuning the application. 

“I think it’s the right decision to not move them forward and give them an opportunity to go back to these things,” Godbey said, “and figure out who they are and come back with a stronger plan.”

John Eldridge, vice chair of the review board, expressed support for the proposal and Foust’s involvement in the school and voted against denying the project.

“Regardless of the vote today, I hope … you’ll take and refine this because this is not something to give up on,” Eldridge said. “I 100% believe in this mission.”