FERRIDAY — A charter school for Ferriday and Waterproof students will open in September 2008 if everything goes according to plan.

A charter school is a public school that operates independently of the local school district.

Lamar Beyah, founder of The African American Rite of Passage Institute, said he is certain the charter for the institute’s school will be approved, and that they have already found a location for it.

Beyah originally came to the area to start a school in Natchez, but Mississippi law does not allow for start-up charter schools. It only allows for districts that already exist to convert to charter.

Louisiana allows for start-up charter schools, however, and Beyah said there is a need for one in the Waterproof area.

“The schools there have closed, and the students are being bussed to St. Joseph,” he said. “That’s not good.”

Beyah said though the school would be in Waterproof — in Tensas Parish — students from the Concordia Parish School District would be welcome to attend.

The focus of the school is social reform, said Beyah’s wife, Iretha, who is president and chief executive officer of the institute.

“We want to train the students in good conduct, mannerisms and respect for authority,” Lamar Beyah said. “Once you have that foundation, you can study your academics, your mathematics and literature.”

One way the institute plans to do that is to develop an enviornment that is conducive to teaching students to better interact with other cultures, Lamar Beyah said.

“We want to rise above the color-coded idea,” he said. “Black, white — whatever color, we’re all working toward the same goal.”

The school will also teach students to plan for the future and to actively pursue goals instead of just hoping for the best, Iretha Beyah said.

The school will have a different educational philosophy than most public schools, Lamar Beyah said.

The educational space will be open. Class sessions will be divided, but there will be no walls, so everyone can see everyone else, he said.

The school will have uniforms, and instead of students moving from class to class, teachers will be the ones to move, he said.

Class sizes will be limited to 20 students a class, and each class will have two teachers, Beyah said.

For the first year, enrollment will be limited to Kindergarten through the ninth grade. The school will expand through the 12th grade by its fourth year, he said.

By law, 75 percent of the teachers at the school will be certified, he said.

The charter group will have a fundraiser in Vidalia at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and John Dale Drive May 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Members of the school’s board of directors will be there to answer any questions, Beyah said.

The group will also host a charter school workshop June 14 and 15 at the J.L.K. Plaza on Church Lane in Waterproof.