Vermilion Charter Academy holds first public meeting

Close to 50 people attended the first Vermilion Charter Town Hall meeting held Thursday at the Woodman of the World Hall in Maurice.
In attendance were parents who wanted to send their children to Vermilion Charter Academy, a new charter school about to be built in the northern part of the parish.
The school will be known as Vermilion Charter Academy, and the bulldog will be its mascot.
The K-through 8th grade school is scheduled to open in August of next year. The school can house 900 students. The goal is to have at least 100 students in each grade.
The parents were able to learn when the enrollment begins and how it works, along with the goals of the charter schools.
The school will cost around $20 million to build and will be paid for by Charter Schools USA. Charter Schools USA has seven charter schools in Louisiana, including two in Lafayette Parish.
Lonnie Lege, the superintendent of Charter Schools USA of Louisiana, explained to the parents that Charter Schools USA will build a first-class facility at no extra cost to the taxpayers.
“It will be a state-of-the-art facility,” said Lege. “We are going to invest $20 million in the community. We will also pay for the facility with current operating dollars.”
On Friday, Charter Schools USA began interviewing prospects for the new principal job. There were 27 who applied.
Enrollment for the charter school will begin on Oct. 30 and end on Dec. 2. Parents have to visit the website Vermilioncharter.org to enroll their child or children. On the website, parents will see the button “Enroll Now.” They have to click on the button to begin the process.
Once enrollment is closed, parents will learn in about a week if their child has been accepted into the charter school.
Anyone in South Louisiana can attend the charter school; however, Vermilion Parish children will have priority over out-of-parish students.
Emily Wharton, the enrollment manager of Charter Schools USA, said once a student has been selected, the parent has seven days to accept the invite.
She predicted by Dec. 11, parents and students should begin getting word on if their student was accepted.
Wharton explained that the goal is to have 100 students in each grade. If 150 second-grade students enroll, the school will pick only 100 students using the lottery system. The other 50 students will be on a waiting list.
However, if there are only 50 students enrolled in the third grade and 150 in the second grade, Charter School USA can add two more second-grade classrooms since there could be only two third-grade classrooms.
Greg Theriot, former North Vermilion High School Principal, is the Regional Superintendent of Charter Schools USA of Louisiana. He oversees the operation of the two charter schools in Lafayette Parish and will also oversee Vermilion Charter Academy.
Theriot assured the parents that the new school would be the safest in Vermilion Parish.
There will be video cameras in each hall. Every door will have an alarm, and everyone entering the school must go through a security check.
“We know how to keep kids safe,” Theriot said.
The charter school will provide school bus transportation.
Also, students must wear blue or red shirts with brown pants.
Another public school charter meeting will be held on Oct. 24 in Abbeville at the St. Theresa Child of Jesus Catholic Church. It will begin at 6 p.m.