Diverse Challenges: Charter Schools Look at How They Reflect Community's Population
This graphic shows the ethnic diversity in Polk County's population as a whole. the circular pies are the population diversity breakdown of selected cities. The most recent population figures are from the AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY, 2013.
LAKELAND | Of the 58 ninth-grade students at Polk Pre-Collegiate Academy in Auburndale the past school year, none identified themselves as black.
In the 10th-grade class, four of the 51 students did.
A total of 12 students were Hispanic, three were Asian and two were mixed race.
With 81 percent white students, the Academy has the second-highest percentage of non-minority students among Polk's charter schools.
A fraction of a mile down the road from Polk Pre-Collegiate is No. 1: Berkley Charter School, an elementary school that had 84 percent white students.
Last school year, there were 584 white students, 30 black students, 64 Hispanic students, 10 Asian students and eight mixed-race students.
Overall, the Polk County School District's student population is 43 percent white, 21 percent black and 31 percent Hispanic.
Polk County as a whole is 64 percent white, 14 percent black and 18 percent Hispanic.
Although many charter schools reflect the population, the district is looking into 13 charters with more than 60 percent white student populations.
District officials say they want to make sure charter leaders aren't becoming complacent about ethnic diversity in the era after court-ordered desegregation — a national concern that has been discussed for years as some schools in districts that have been released from their court orders have appeared to re-segregate.
"This is a national and statewide trend that we're starting to see in choice schools," said Melissa Brady, director of charter schools for the district.
Brady said charter schools are expected to monitor themselves, but the district thought they weren't doing that and decided to step in.
'SAME OPPORTUNITIES'
"It's an important factor, I think, making sure every kid has an equal opportunity to get into the school they feel best serves them," she said. "We are not trying to slam charter schools. … I don't want this to paint a negative picture on the schools because that's not what we're trying to do. We're just trying to make sure every kid has the same opportunities."
Charter leaders have heard the message, and some are developing new strategies to address the disparity — although some say they aren't sure how to increase diversity without running afoul of the law.
Polk Pre-Collegiate's principal, Cathy Carver, is working to assemble a marketing team and to add information in Spanish to its website.
"We are mindful of serving a population that is reflective of our community," she said. "It's good to me that we are finding ways to reach out."
Carver said part of the challenge is that the school, which opened in 2011, is very small and hasn't had a lot of time to get the word out to potential students. She met with Brady to discuss ways the school could work to increase racial diversity.
Based on early data, Carver said the school will have a more diverse student body in 2015-16.
She takes that as a sign their marketing strategies are working, and she said she thinks strengthening the marketing team will be an important resource moving forward.
"I will do whatever I need to do," she said.
