Optimism for charter school to make it

The building and the grounds in Salem that served as the small town’s only school are no longer needed by the public school district.  And today the CEO of a one-year old state charter school, based in Greenville, sounded a tone of optimism to a group of Oconee public and private leaders that the “NEXT School at Eagle Ridge” will open.  But Zack Eikenberry also said there are hurdles that remain and his board of directors will weigh late the conditions needed to open the school and make a decision by the end of the month.  A key factor will be enrollment.  The NEXT School seeks 215 students to fill grades 6 to 12.  Eikenberry estimates the school is “way past the halfway point.”  Community financial support is also needed, he said, although as an official state-sanctioned charter school, NEXT is entitled for as much as $6,600 per student.  Eikenberry spoke to a business forum of the Oconee Economic Alliance and fielded several questions from the audience.  Among the interested audience members were three representatives of the Oconee public schools.  One, Walhalla area school board member Rosemary Bailes, says she wishes the venture luck as it attempts to succeed.