Monday, March 13, 2006
RULING MIGHT LET CHARTER SCHOOL REOPEN
An article in the Charleston Post and Courier indicates that a charter school shut down by Dorchester School District Two in August of 2004 will be allowed to reopen. The Post and Courier article also indicates that James Academy of Excellence will be seeking thousands of dollars from the County for reimbursement of the construction costs and the costs of running a private school at the same location where the charter school had been scheduled to open.
Previously, it was reported that Dorchester County Sheriff Ray Nash provided "volunteer" inmate labor for this school. Recent developments raise three questions: (1) If the inmates now want the county to pay them for the reasonable value of their services, who will be responsible for doing so--the county, the Sheriff's Office, the school district, or the charter school? (2) Will Sheriff Nash provide "volunteer" labor for the construction of the other schools that are to be built in Dorchester School District Two? and, (3) What will happen if the contractors who lost the James Academy of Excellence construction bid because they did not know that they could use free inmate labor bring lawsuits?
From our standpoint, extreme caution should be taken regarding the use of inmate labor. This is particularly true when the labor pool includes people who are neither convicts nor in contempt and there is no independent system in place to determine whether the labor is provided "voluntarily."
An article in the Charleston Post and Courier indicates that a charter school shut down by Dorchester School District Two in August of 2004 will be allowed to reopen. The Post and Courier article also indicates that James Academy of Excellence will be seeking thousands of dollars from the County for reimbursement of the construction costs and the costs of running a private school at the same location where the charter school had been scheduled to open.
Previously, it was reported that Dorchester County Sheriff Ray Nash provided "volunteer" inmate labor for this school. Recent developments raise three questions: (1) If the inmates now want the county to pay them for the reasonable value of their services, who will be responsible for doing so--the county, the Sheriff's Office, the school district, or the charter school? (2) Will Sheriff Nash provide "volunteer" labor for the construction of the other schools that are to be built in Dorchester School District Two? and, (3) What will happen if the contractors who lost the James Academy of Excellence construction bid because they did not know that they could use free inmate labor bring lawsuits?
From our standpoint, extreme caution should be taken regarding the use of inmate labor. This is particularly true when the labor pool includes people who are neither convicts nor in contempt and there is no independent system in place to determine whether the labor is provided "voluntarily."
Labels: Inmate Labor
