Families' commitment makes Selma charter school hum

Parent involvement is a prerequisite at Johnston County's first charter school

SELMA -- Tabatha Koziarz has faced bigger back-to-school preoccupations lately than whether her third-grade daughter's bookbag is packed on day one.

At Neuse Charter School, which opens Monday with grades K through 5 in Selma, families are required to volunteer for the school at least four hours a month. Many parents -- and children -- have already surpassed that minimum. Koziarz, for instance, has put in 17 hours some days this month.

The Clayton resident has been rounding up donations, such as picnic tables from Lowe's Home Improvement stores to give students a place to eat lunch. She recently spoke at an American Legion meeting about the school's need for a flagpole. And she's been on the phones constantly with other volunteers to coordinate carpools, catered lunches and teacher helpers.

Other families also have been active. Earlier this month, an army of parents and students gathered to pressure wash a tractor-trailer's worth of old furniture from Wake County schools. They scraped off gum and applied a chemical to clean off graffiti. Then they formed a line, passing the desks and chairs into trailers.

"It's our dream," Koziarz said Saturday, near a volunteer crew doing last-minute landscaping. "And it's on us to make it happen."

North Carolina adopted a charter school law in 1996, allowing up to 100 schools statewide. The schools are publicly funded but operate much like private schools with their own governing board of directors.

Neuse Charter School, which won approval in March, is Johnston County's first charter operation. It was the vision of several past presidents of the Smithfield-Selma chamber of commerce, who saw some families choosing to live outside the area because of the quality of schools. About 160 Johnston County children were already attending charter schools outside the county, said Dave Neville, chairman of the school's board.

Parents on board

Neuse Charter's curriculum is the huge attraction. The school will offer courses such as Spanish at all grade levels, creative movement and Chinese -- a first for a Johnston County school.

The school's volunteer requirement is also a major draw.

"If [parents] care enough to give four hours, they want their child to be there," said mother Karen Holloman at a school meeting earlier this month.

Holloman said she loved her son Jacob's former elementary school in Wilson's Mills. But trouble-making students often made it hard for him to learn, she said.

"You've got parents who don't care," she said. "They want their kids baby-sat all day."

Kay Carroll, a Johnston County school board member, said he understands the desire for parents to have a school where family participation is a must.

"That's been the public education struggle, having parents engaged," he said.

Having a strong volunteer corps is also important because the charter school receives a combined state and county allotment -- about $6,440 per pupil -- that covers teacher salaries and school supplies, but not buildings, landscaping and maintenance.

Jack Moyer, director of the state office of charter schools, said sometimes there are risks of too much involvement if parents start thinking they run a school. And it's not always a good idea to have parents volunteering in the same classroom as their child.

But such "interference" can usually be avoided if volunteering is structured, Moyer said.

Director Dean Olah said that's the case at Neuse Charter School. The school has provided volunteer training, with tips such as the proper way to hug a child. And there are about 10 different volunteer committees, geared toward specific tasks.

Finishing touches

Kitty Ann Lloyd, mother of a kindergartner, is on the school's landscaping and community service committees. She spent five hours Saturday raking through dirt before leaving for Cary, where she works as an airline reservation agent.

"All these little rocks have to be gotten up so that the mower can come through and not throw rocks and break windows," she said.

Many parents, such as Lloyd, bring their own passions and experience to their volunteer work. Lloyd, who loves to garden, eventually hopes to help students plant green bean tepees and butterfly gardens.