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State board approves Mater Academy’s Generation 30 charter application after majority vote
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Summary
The State Board of Education approved the Mater Academy Generation 30 charter application for a San Antonio campus by a roll-call-style counted vote after discussion about contracting and capacity review processes.
The State Board of Education voted on April 11 to approve the commissioner’s recommendation to take no action on the Generation 30 high-performing charter application for Mater Academy in San Antonio, an outcome the board’s clerk explained is equivalent to granting the charter. The vote count recorded at the meeting was 11 in favor and 3 opposed.
Board members asked questions during debate about Mater Academy’s proposed contracts and service arrangements. Member Hickman asked what portion of the applicant’s budget would go to Florida; an applicant representative answered “1%.” Member Brooks pressed about a $650 per-student fee described as support from Academica Southwest; Mater Academy’s representative said the fee would be paid to the CMO and then to a Texas company, Academica Southwest. Several board members asked about whether the agency could offer capacity interviews as part of the application process and about the vendor’s local registration status; TEA staff said the application process for high-performing charter designations differs from standard capacity interviews and that TEA solicits board feedback each year on the process.
After debate, the board called the question and then approved the committee’s recommendation to take no action on the commissioner’s recommendation — the board’s procedure equated taking no action with approving the charter — with the clerk reading 11 yes and 3 no votes. The board instructed staff to file the result according to agency procedures.
