Entrepreneur High making public appeal for survival

When the state Board of Education voted to revoke the charter of the all-but-defunct Entrepreneur High, it left only a small sliver of possibility for the school to ever reopen.

It's unclear whether the charter school's board is going to pursue it, but that hasn't stopped its leaders from launching a public opinion campaign in favor of the school.

This is the school that reported having only $14 in the bank while holding classes. Entrepreneur High ended up closing its doors last month. When the state board voted to revoke the charter, it afforded them 11 days to appeal the decision. By my count, that window expires this week.

The state Office of Charter Schools told me that they haven't received any word from the school on an appeal.

But it sure looks like the school's chairman, Robert Hillman, has been laying the groundwork. He set up a petition in favor of reopening the school that has gotten 300 signatures so far. He's also coordinated a letter-writing campaign that's filled my inbox with notes from parents and students at the school and targeted the state school board.

Here's an example:

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Hillman has not responded to my requests for comment on whether the school will appeal.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The school has appealed. Read the story here.

Ousted CEO vows to re-open failed Entrepreneur High

Hans Plotseneder

It's only been a few days since Entrepreneur High closed its doors, but its former CEO is already promising to restart the school without the board that fired him in Christmas Eve.

You'll recall that this school's board chairman told the state that it only had $14 in the bank last week. The charter school advisory board then took the first steps toward revoking its charter. With that hanging over the school's head, chairman Robert Hillman shut down operations Friday.

In an email sent to the media in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Hans Peter Plotseneder -- also known as Dr. Plots -- insists that he is the only person who has the right to operate the school and lays out a plan to do so.

Plotseneder was fired Christmas Eve after a series of emergency board meetings in late December. Hillman wouldn't go into detail about what led up to the firing, but other school staff members said Plotseneder didn't do enough to take care of the school's students, leading them to withdraw from the school en masse.

Plotseneder's plan hinges on cutting Entrepreneur High's staff in half and relying on public money slated to arrive in February. He claims that he would receive $124,000 from the state and as much as $90,000 from the county.

Plotseneder then plans to receive $90,000 in grants, secure a bridge loan of $75,000, and sublease part of the building, an old Food Lion off Central Avenue. Ultimately, he wants to bring in a charter management organization to take over.

All that would certainly be difficult given that the remaining handful of students have transferred out of the school and that it faces forced closure in a matter of weeks.

The state Department of Public Instruction wasn't immediately able to say whether Entrepreneur High was still eligible to receive money from the state.