Lowcountry Montessori charter school found non-compliant

A dearth of certified teachers and problems reporting data are spelling trouble for a fledgling Beaufort charter school.

Lowcountry Montessori School was found to be non-compliant by the S.C. Public Charter School District in June because it did not meet a state law that 75 percent of its teachers be certified, according to documents provided by the district. Following a visit from the district Monday, the school is continuing to work toward compliance.

Among other issues, the year-old school failed to:

The district expects the school to resolve its credential problems by the end of the 2015-2016 school year, and will monitor Lowcountry Montessori until it does so, district spokesperson Laura Bayne said Thursday.

"The district will work with the school to (extend the timeline if necessary)," Bayne said.

The charter school also experienced issues with student performance and financial safeguards last year, according to other district and state records released this week.

The school's board called an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss a "confidential personnel issue," but no action was taken.

Several parents have voiced frustration that their children have inexperienced teachers, chaotic classrooms and inadequate transcripts, but declined to speak with reporters.

The school's struggles also contributed to assistant director Brandon Smith parting ways with the school last week, he says.

Smith said he was shocked to learn after his hire this summer that only half of Lowcountry Montessori's teachers were certified.

"I came back home to South Carolina expecting the charters to comply within the laws that they have stated, and the charter alliance says clearly the (maximum number of uncertified) teachers are 25 percent," Smith said. "I didn't get what I expected, and that was difficult for me as a parent and as a school leader."

Director Amy Horn, who declined to comment on Smith's separation from the school, initially confirmed last week that about 50 percent of the school's teachers lacked state credentials.

On Thursday, she said that figure was just 35 percent of the school's 20 teachers, with two of those employees teaching courses they are not certified in. She did not respond to requests for an explanation of the change.

In terms of the Montessori method, a total of 10 teachers have not completed training, and six lack both state and Montessori credentials.

Horn says eight teachers are currently working toward their Montessori education.

As a result of the schools' staffing, only 20 percent of classes are taught by highly qualified teachers, compared with 90 to 100 percent in similar schools, according to the school's state report card.

Horn said it's difficult to find teachers for themed charter schools and added that letters of non-compliance are extremely common. She likened opening a charter school, to "building a plane while you're flying."

"It is almost unheard of for a charter school to open up and not get a letter of non-compliance the first year," she said. "Nothing is really in place."

She added that while it takes time to complete training, she is confident in her employees' ability to follow the Montessori method. For example, she said two lead teachers were hired too late in the summer to begin training, so the school provided both with intensive, on-site support.

"We have more professional development on the Montessori method for our staff than you can imagine," Horn said.

Smith, meanwhile, said the issue goes beyond teachers' qualifications. He says he sent his own children to charter schools before moving to the Beaufort-area and appreciated the transparency with which they responded to any problems that arose.

On Thursday, he said he was concerned that parents at Lowcountry Montessori may not know some of their classes are taught by non-certified teachers.

"I personally don't understand why their board allowed this level of noncompliance," he said.

The school's challenges may have contributed to low baselines in testing. While test scores were in line with the state averages in English and reading, students are struggling elsewhere.

Only 14 percent of students met state standards for writing, compared to 24.4 percent statewide. In math, Lowcountry Montessori was about 14 percentage points below the state average of 47 percent.

A recent audit noted another area of noncompliance, and several smaller issues.

At various times throughout the 2014-2015 school year, Lowcountry Montessori's bank accounts contained more than $250,000, the maximum that could be insured, according to the Oct. 31 report.

The auditors also found the school lacked a credit card for school purchases and a proper procedure for signing off on purchases. Both problems have been rectified, the report says.

The most serious weakness the audit found was a lack of communication between Lowcountry Montessori's management and the partners that own the school's property and that paid for its new building. "Certain transactions were not recorded properly," the audit states.

The school said it fixed that problem as well, and will communicate with its partners and record their activity on an ongoing basis.

A fourth issue will go untouched, the school said. While management is not trained in preparing financial statements, the school said it considers the risk of incomplete or inaccurate statements "tolerable" when compared to the cost of further training.

At the request of Lowcountry Montessori, the district visited the school on Monday to continue conversations on its charter compliance.

On Thursday, Bayne said the district was confident following its conversations with Lowcountry Montessori that the school is taking the necessary steps to correct all areas of concern.

Lowcountry Montessori has requested the state review the certification of its uncredentialed teachers, Bayne said. The district plans to check on the school's progress mid-December and will monitor its performance through periodic state reports.

If the school does not make reasonable progress, the law would allow the district to freeze enrollment, demand another corrective action plan or institute other sanctions short of closing the school.

Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.

Related content:

• New Montessori charter school approved for Beaufort County, July 30, 2013
• Montessori charter school on track to open this fall, July 28, 2014

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 9:46 PM with the headline "Lowcountry Montessori charter school found non-compliant."