Staff Writer
Mayah Collins
TARBORO —
The location of Edgecombe County’s first charter school, North East Carolina Prep, has not been finalized yet, but according to NECP Executive Director John Westberg, a deal should be made within four-to-five days.
“I think we’re close to finalizing something and we feel that the community will be very happy,” Westberg said.
The Mary Frances Center and the former Riverside Plaza Mall building are sites the group, headed by Westberg, have studied.
“Mary Frances is our No. 1 number one choice,” said Anna Vaughn Creech, communications director for the school. “That’s the one place we’re trying to secure, but financially, it’s a big piece.”
The charter school’s anticipated open date is Aug. 1, but that all depends on the site being selected and renovated as scheduled, Creech said.
“There is a little flexibility depending on our facility situation and if we need to push it back a couple of days (we can),” she said. “We’re shooting for Aug. 1.
“There are pros and cons to every location we’ve looked at,” Creech added. “The issue with each place is that it has to fit our budget for the first year, it has to fit our size for enrollment and it has to be able to open in the right amount of time with renovation being a part of that. We are at a little bit of a disadvantage, but we don’t see it as a problem. We know we will open somewhere, but we just can’t say where right now. The pros and cons for each location are the things that have held us up. It’s a lot of red tape to work out to make sure we make the right choice and to get off on the right foot.”
North East Prep and eight other charters were approved by the North Carolina State Board of Education in March.
Charter schools are tuition-free public schools that get their funding from taxpayers. Local, state and federal tax monies based on enrollment provide funding.
The school’s final enrollment session for the first year’s classes will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 28 at the Edgecombe Memorial Library in Tarboro.
The deadline to apply for enrollment is 5 p.m. Monday, April 30.
For more information, visit www.necprepschool.com or email info@necprepschool.com
