Federal judge okays Delta Charter opening
posted Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 @ 1:56 pm

Delta Charter School of Math & Science's Clovis Christman can now envision getting to work at his new school after the Delta Charter Group received final approval Friday from a federal judge to open in Ferriday for the 2013-14 school year.

But that vision is not sitting at a desk in the administrative office.

"I'll be in a classroom and up and down the hallway, where the action is," Christman said. "I want to get close to the kids and work with the teachers. That is one thing that really excites me about working in a charter school environment. Yes, there will still be some politics involved, but by and large, the focus is on what's good for the kids."

Christman said everyone was confident the school would be approved, but it's nice to get it in writing.

"It's been a long, arduous journey, but it's good to know that's behind us now," he said. "The real work begins now and I'm looking forward to that."

Delta Charter School will be housed in the former Huntington School building.

"We are not a private school," Christman emphasized.

He said there's "a lot of work that needs to be done at the building, and we plan to getting started soon. There's a lot of picking up and straightening up to do. We'll schedule a clean-up day soon and be hollering for some help."

The school was given permission to open in 2013 by the Board of Elementary & Secondary Education (BESE).

Delta Charter will begin this year as kindergarten through ninth grade and add a grade each year. The athletic teams, named Storm after the school mascot, will be junior high for the first few years.

"Our focus now is getting our curriculum together," Christman said.

Christman and Curriculum coordinator Rudy Hennigan will be working together on that project.