Ferriday — A proposed charter school in Ferriday two years in the making is awaiting a decision by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to move forward with high hopes of opening in 2012.

The charter school in Ferriday would have a math, science and technology curriculum and would be located in the old Huntington School building on Lynwood Drive.

The Delta Charter group was organized to help push the school’s creation after Huntington School closed in Ferriday in May 2010.

Charter schools are publicly funded, independently operated public schools that do not charge tuition or fees, are open to all students who wish to attend and cannot discriminate when making enrollment decisions.

While charter schools are not forced to enroll students based on an attendance zone, the student population of a charter school must reflect the at-risk population in the district where the school is located.

Charter schools fall under several categories including a “type one” charter school, which is a new start-up school that must be authorized by the local school board, and a “type two” charter school, which is a new start-up school that must be authorized by the BESE.

The Delta Charter group originally applied twice for a type one charter school in 2010 and 2011, but were denied both times by the Concordia Parish School Board after a third party group hired to review the group’s application found several aspects did not meet standards for approval.

As part of a regulation by the National Charter School Association, all applications are required to be reviewed by a third party.

The Delta Charter group then applied for a type two-charter school, which also means they can draw students from the entire state and are not bound to the parish.

With a type two charter school, the Delta Charter group’s school would not answer to the Concordia Parish School Board, but rather be it’s own board handling internal matters and have BESE as a governing body.

A review completed by a four-member team for the type two application cited the education plan of the group did not meet the standard required for approval, and the team recommended the schools approval be denied.

The summary of the review stated, “The vision statement lacked specificity as to ‘how’ the school would look once in operation and while the educational approaches are proven effective for the target population, there are not systems in place to ensure successful implementation of these instructional models.”

A final vote on the type two application was tabled by BESE in December.

During the interim period between December and January BESE meetings, the Delta Charter group provided additional information to BESE regarding the school’s education plan.

In January, BESE agreed to let the Delta Charter group move forward with plans to open the school with stipulations that a director be identified by Feb. 15.

The requirement from BESE to identify a director before proceeding came after the application review cited several weaknesses with the leadership positions the group listed in the application.

An interim director was listed in the application, but the candidate wasn’t intended to be the director once the school opened.

The application review stated that the Delta Charter group “does not appear to have a strategic plan to recruit or develop a successor with specific expertise and background in the school’s proposed instructional design.”

The Delta Charter group submitted a permanent director candidate for the interview process and BESE interviewed the proposed director Monday.

Delta Charter board member Craig Jackson, one of two founders of the board and owner of Cash Express in Vidalia, said he is confident in the candidate they chose for the interview, but could not release the candidate’s name until after a determination was made by BESE.

“I can’t imagine our director candidate not being quality enough for them,” Jackson said. “(The candidate) definitely has a resume that speaks for itself and a long list of achievements.”

With the interview process done, Jackson said he hopes that BESE reaches a decision soon so the group can continue on the track to opening the school in 2012.

“We’re dying to get this thing going and be able to move forward,” Jackson said. “When we see the light at the end of the tunnel, we’ll really get excited.”

Because the parish is under a federal desegregation order, the group must meet with U.S. Department of Justice officials for desegregation requirements if both the coordinator and director are approved.

If approved for the 2012-2013 school year, Jackson said the school will open for students in kindergarten though ninth grade and would have a 30-day enrollment process before switching to a lottery system.