Students on both sides air views on budget impact of Evergreen Charter School

Hundreds of residents packed the auditorium of Hempstead High School to hear children and adults debate with passion the pros and cons of a proposed expansion of one of three charter schools.

The Evergreen Charter School is seeking state approval to grow from 750 students in grades from kindergarten to eighth grade to 1,100 students that would include grades 9 through 12. 

The auditorium at President Street school was full of Evergreen students wearing lime green T-shirts and their teachers and parents as well as Hempstead High School students, the Hempstead school board and parents. Nearly every seat was occupied in the large venue.

By and large, Evergreen students, many of whom were preteens, said they love their school and that they’d like to continue the experience they had in a high school under the same administration.

“Evergreen has made an impact on the lives of so many,” said one student.

Hempstead students, though, were just as committed to their school, saying they feared the expansion of Evergreen would siphon funds away from the programs and educational quality at the high school.

“Hempstead High School has prepared me specifically for what I want to do in the future,” said Melva Morales, this year’s valedictorian.

And student government President Charanjit Singh, 17, said Hempstead High harbors many Advanced Placement classes and as many as 22 clubs. “These opportunities will be taken away from us,” he said.

At issue is whether an expansion of the school would take away funds from Hempstead’s budget, a fear that has been raised by observers including Jack Bierwirth, the distinguished educator who monitored the school system for about two years after being appointed by the state’s education commissioner.

Bierwirth warned that the school district was spending more of its money on charter school tuition and transportation than in recent years, and that the obligation would threaten service.

Hempstead says its charter school tuition reimbursement and related transportation costs consistently have grown: Spending was $26 million for 2018-2019, $44 million for 2019-2020, and a projected $55 million for 2020-21 as of August 2019. 

But Gil Bernardino, president of the board of trustees for Evergreen, said Monday that Bierwirth was mistaken since charter schools receive 20% less money in tuition than Hempstead spends on students who remain in the public school system.

“Therefore, the 20 percent is kept by the Hempstead School district because they are the ones who raise taxes,” he said. 

One parent, Joylene Williams Samuels, said she was happy to pay taxes to support Evergreen's expansion while maintaining adequate funding for the public schools, adding that her daughter is in Evergreen this year.

Hempstead Board of Education President David Gates said he was most proud of the students who spoke in favor of the Hempstead public schools, adding that “no teacher, parent of administrator could have done what you did tonight. You spoke truth to power.”