Vermilion Parish to get a new charter school

ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY) – The journey wasn’t easy, but a new charter school is coming to Vermilion Parish.

“The biggest issue was there was no room. Children were sitting on the floor to eat lunch. Children were in portable buildings that were not necessarily in the best shape,” said Bridget Winters, President, Vermilion Charter Foundation.

Bridget Winters says the approval for a charter school came from the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. This was only after the Vermilion Parish School Board denied the opportunity. 

“We went before the Vermilion Parish School Board because we would have really appreciated a partnership with them. They chose to deny the charter, which blocked us from becoming type one and partnering with them. So our only other option was to go before BESE,” said Winters. Winters says the charter school will be a type 2 charter school. 

"There's mixed reviews on charters and me being a 33 retired educator of the Vermilion Parish School Board, this was a decision I did not make lightly,” she said. 

A type 2 charter school allows students from outside the parish to enroll. Winters says they found a way to benefit the children in the community first. 

“In writing our application, our board was actually able to find a section in the bulletin which allowed the board some leeway in zone lines,” she said. "In our application, we wrote, and it was approved in that way that students in the North Vermilion community would almost like it to awaken an advance over outside zip codes."

Winters tells News Ten the goal is to help with the overcrowding. "It was a win for students and a win for families. A win for children,” she said. They are searching for land to build the school from the ground up. 

"We're very excited as we move forward with the next steps,” Winters said. “Kids deserve to be taught in different ways using different methods by different entities. It's not the old school anymore.” The plan is to open the new charter school by August 2023.