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Washington County

Steelmaker breaks ground on new facility in Calvert

The new $775 million steelmaking facility was announced in December.
February 19, 2021

Woodland Prep. Fake charter school lives on

Drive by any school in Alabama (during more normal times) and what do you expect to find?  Classrooms.  Students.  Teachers. Textbooks.  Computers.  A curriculum.  Someone in charge. But nearly two years after the Alabama charter school commission gave the go ahead to Woodland Prep charter in Washington County there is no school facility, no classrooms, … Continued
April 14, 2020

Meanwhile, back in Washington County

The South Oak Grove Baptist Church has been a fixture in southwest Washington County since 1880.  It doubled as a school for nearly 60 years, until a school was built in nearby Fruitdale. Today it is a staging site for volunteers working to provide meals for local students prevented from attending school by the virus … Continued
March 31, 2020

Praise The Lord. Woodland Prep gets bad news from charter commission

Finally.  Thankfully.  Mercifully. The colossal mishmash of an attempt to open a charter school in Washington County has now been taken off of life support and left to flop, flounder and gasp its last breath by the state Charter School Commission. The application to open Woodland Prep was approved in May 2018 by the commission … Continued
February 4, 2020

Washington County charter school opposition is about quality public schools, not one guy’s religion

The people in Washington County who oppose a planned charter school are not bigots.  They’re not against the charter school because a Muslim guy is going to manage it. They aren’t all caught up in some anti-Muslim protest.  They just don’t want the charter school. And they have very good reasons for not wanting the … Continued
July 24, 2019

Turmoil amidst the pines

It’s reasonable to think there might be some controversy about any new school. Maybe where it is located, what it is named, who the principal may be, what courses will be taught? But seldom do you expect the wholesale turmoil that hit rural Washington County, AL when locals learned that a handful of folks wanted … Continued
July 17, 2019

The Alabama Charter School Commission does not care

Last year, the Alabama Charter School Commission gave approval to a Washington County charter school known as Woodland Prep. It gave that approval despite the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, which was contracted by the Alabama State Department of Education to review charter school applications, writing in its review of Woodland that the school’s … Continued
June 10, 2019

Finally, state superintendent reverses course, weighs in on Washington County charter debacle

For months, state superintendent Eric Mackey has said he has no jurisdiction over the state charter school commission. However, as we have pointed out numerous times, the charter law of 2015 clearly says, “The department shall oversee the performance and effectiveness of all authorizers established under this act.” Furthermore, the guidelines written to govern the charter … Continued
June 6, 2019