Lincoln Memorial Academy Team Tells Their Side of the Story at Town Hall Meeting
BY THE VILTZ VIEW
Shown speaking Lincoln Memorial Academy CEO, Eddie Hundley.
On Thursday, July 11th hundreds of attendees including community leaders, parents, residents and elected officials braved torrential rains in support of a Town Hall hosted by Lincoln Memorial Academy CEO, Eddie Hundley. The Town Hall served as an opportunity for the Lincoln founder and CEO to share a different perspective with “collaborating evidence regarding the financial status of the school and discriminating practices towards the school by some members of the School District of Manatee County”. The community wide meeting was not intended to focus on the recent five year suspension of Mr. Hundley’s teaching license nor the “year long media attacks of negative publicity.” His license was recently revoked for five years by the Florida Department of Education after the school districts of Manatee and Sarasota counties filed complaints with the Florida Department of Education, citing Mr. Hundley for giving two job recommendations to a former employee under criminal investigation. Mr. Hundley continues to attest that he was not aware of any criminal charges against the former teacher and the accused teacher was neither fired nor arrested when the job recommendations were made. In addition, he has been made a “scapegoat” to cover up “blatant process violations and negligence” in the reporting/hiring process by both county school districts. The Lincoln Board of Directors, a host of parents, students, faculty and many community leaders still support his continuation as leader of the school. The primary focus of the Town Hall was to review the event chronology resulting in the Lincoln financial shortfall, which now requires a state approved recovery plan. Mr. Hundley provided evidence reflecting inconsistencies in budget allocation and funding from the Manatee County School District commencing after the date the District was first apprised that parents and faculty were voting to convert Lincoln Memorial Academy to a public charter school. It is noteworthy that 98% of the faculty and 93% of the parents voted in favor of the conversion. Evidence presented included reports reflecting that the majority of district schools received budget increases from the 2017 to 2018 school year, Lincoln received more than a 14% reduction totaling over $500,000. In addition, while the average student/teacher allocation was about 30:1, Lincoln’s allocation was over 47:1. Hundley confirms,
“this occurred after the school announced its plans for charter conversion.”
Lincoln is also a Title 1 School which means students have been determined to be at the threshold that qualifies all Lincoln students to participate in the “free and reduced lunch” program. The federal funds are administered through the Manatee school district and are calculated based on enrollment. There is a detailed budget process that takes place in the spring prior to the next school year, which allocates funding in July and recalculates in October to accurately reflect student population. Actual student headcount is the determinate of Title 1 funding. According to the documents presented, as a conversion charter Lincoln received NO Title 1 funding from July through November requiring the school administration to deplete financial reserves to meet payroll and other financial responsibilities. Also, based on the documentation presented, when funds were finally allocated in December the amounts still did not reflect the student population being served. Based on a compliant filed by Mr. Hundley to the Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Federal Investigation Programs, the inconsistencies are under review.
Notwithstanding the turmoil and negative media attention since the conversion to charter, the Lincoln student population continues to grow. The Student body has grown from just over 400 to 520 in one year. The projected headcount for the next school year will be capped at 600. The school credits the growth to innovative programs for the 6th, 7th and 8th graders that focus specifically on the needs of the children from the local community served. Lincoln has expanded the school day by an additional hour and has implemented “total life prep” programs to build life skills by grade level including Personal Hygiene, Municipal Responsibility, Social Skills, Career, College and Vocational exposure. Lincoln also provides sports specific training for student athletes, choir, band, cheer, culinary, STEM, Agriculture, Yoga and an extensive list of other clubs available to students. The school also receives support from the Gamma Xi Boule fraternity with role models as part of a Speaker Series and from The LINKS Incorporated who continue to provide programs that reduce barriers for at risk youth. The Lincoln Memorial Academy programs under the visionary leadership of the CEO and dedicated Staff give children from some of the poorest communities in Manatee County and the City of Palmetto a reason to want to stay in school through innovative approaches in educating the total child. At the closure of the Town Hall event community members were encouraged to make their voices heard in support of Lincoln Memorial Academy at the Manatee County School Board Meeting on Tuesday, July 23rd at 5:45 pm. The meeting is held at the School Board Building, 15 Manatee Ave. West, Bradenton FL 34205. Community members are allowed 3 minutes to speak during the public forum.
