Harding Fine Arts Academy (HFAA) is a college preparatory high school in Oklahoma City that focuses on the integration of arts and academics. HFAA opened in 2005 with a 9th grade class, and grew by a grade level each subsequent year. The school opened with $25,000 raised from the community and founders. Once the school opened its doors, a grant from the state legislature and per-pupil funding kicked in. “It’s disconcerting to start out with no buffer,” Principal Barry Schmelzenbach said about HFAA’s initial shoestring budget.
HFAA received a $174,000 startup grant in 2007 through the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP). Mr. Schmelzenbach remarked that, “by the time we reached our third year—where we had freshman, sophomores and juniors—our student population had grown dramatically. Being able to access those federal funds made a major impact on our ability to meet the needs of our students.” Mr. Schmelzenbach further commented that, “as a charter school, we receive no facilities funding. All of our allocations for anything that we do, whether that’s hiring a teacher or for building a new library, all of that comes directly out of our per-pupil funding. The federal CSP grant that we received enabled us to do everything from build and grow our programs, to being able to purchase appropriately sized furniture for our students. We began with desks that were really meant for middle school students.” The impact of the CSP funding was profound. As Mr. Schmelzenbach stated, “without the CSP funding, we would be years behind where we are right now. In the ten years we’ve operated, we have been able to provide an opportunity for students where we are now ranked as one of the top ten high schools in the state. We would not have been able to reach that level this quickly without the CSP funding.” To learn more about Harding Fine Arts Academy, click here. You can help advocate for charter schools access CSP funding by taking action here.
Menu
