Charter School Capital Helps The Academy for Sciences & Agriculture High School Survive and Thrive

Listen as Becky Meyer, the Executive Director of the Academy for Sciences & Agriculture High School (AFSA) shares how Charter School Capital helped AFSA overcome some critical financial challenges when the state of Minnesota was holding back funding for charter schools and bank financing was hard to come by.

Video Transcript:
AFSA is an agriculture and science-focused charter school, located in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. In 2001, the school opened its doors as a charter school, serving the seven-county metro area to help students understand that there are good careers in agriculture and science waiting for them.
Most urban students aren’t aware of those careers. And so, part of our mission is to create a literacy around agriculture and agriculture business.
I think funding for education, in general, is difficult, but in charter schools, we have some additional problems. There are a number of charter schools who do have some good relationships with the local banks. But when the holdbacks went from 15% to 30%, to 40% a lot of local banks got out of the business of loaning money to charter schools also. My school’s budget is somewhere in the range on about three and a half million dollars per school year, and if we’re having to fund nearly a third or more of that money, we have a lot of expenses. We have a lot of time consumed doing that.
And it’s different from a regular district because we do not have access to the low-interest rate pool funding that traditional districts have. We also, technically, don’t have any collateral other than the tables and chairs, perhaps, in our schools, so banks don’t like to look at us very much.
Charter School Capital understands Minnesota charter schools and understands the funding model that we have in place and I think that they’re in the business more than just for the purpose of lending money. I think they’re interested in making sure that charter schools are successful, and that’s an important piece to me.
If Charter School Capital wasn’t around at the time when the holdbacks increased, I’m sure that a number of charter schools would have had to close their doors. And, in fact, a few charter schools are continuing to close their doors because they don’t have the financial resources to make it through holdbacks, not necessarily at the fault of the charter school but, probably, because that state is not funding education appropriately. And Charter School Capital stepped in and filled a need that was there in the charter school world.

I think that one word I would use for Charter School Capital would be personal.
-Becky Meyer, Executive Director, AFSA

I think that one word I would use for Charter School Capital would be personal. It feels like when they came to Minnesota and funded AFSA High School that they were funding AFSA High School, not just any charter school. They spent a lot of time at our school. They got to know the staff members. They got to know students and they worked with us, and they seem to be proud of our accomplishments as any one of the members of our community would be.

We’re open right now because Charter School Capital came in and funded AFSA High School.
-Becky Meyer, Executive Director, AFSA

Our team of caring charter school financing professionals works with you to determine funding and facilities options based on your school’s needs. If you are trying to meet operational expenses, expand, acquire or renovate your school building, add an athletic department, enhance school safety/security, or buy new technology, complete the online application below and we’ll contact you to set up a meeting.

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How Charter School Capital Helped Minnesota School Thrive

With so many choices for where go to access financial resources for your school, it’s important to select the right one for you. At Charter School Capital, we believe in the power of charter schools and their leaders to deliver quality education to families across the country. And we’re proud to provide the reliability and stability charter leaders require as they walk their journey to better educate more students today—and in the future.
Please watch and listen as Eric Mahmoud Founder and former CEO of the Harvest Network and Best Academy in Minneapolis shares his experience working with Charter School Capital during some very difficult financial times for charter schools in Minnesota.
This video was originally published Jul 17, 2014. While we’re no longer funding Best Academy, we are proud of the way our support has helped them continue to serve their students. Because, when you no longer need Charter School Capital, that means we’ve done our job and your school has become financially stable, successful, and set up for future growth. To learn how other school’s have achieved success by partnering with us, check out our other success stories here and filter by the content type, “School Spotlights”.
Watch the short video to hear Eric’s story and find the transcript below. You can learn more about Charter School Capital here.

We started as a daycare in our home with about 10 children and then after seeing our children graduate from our preschool program and go into the public schools where they weren’t being challenged, we decided that we would expand our preschool program to elementary school, which we did in 1992.
We’ve taken a population that traditionally (both in Minneapolis and around the country) has not done well, and we’ve actually raised their achievement all the way up to the top. And, while at the same time we were growing our BEST academy program, the state was going through their own financial crisis.
And so we went from a 10 percent [state] hold back – maybe about five, six years ago – to subsequently 17 percent, 27 percent, then 30 percent. And last year, a 40 percent hold back. And for many schools it actually crippled them. And, actually, I thought it was very appalling.
The opportunity to talk with Charter School Capital came about and within a very short period of time, we were able to get the resources that we needed.
There was a whole lot of flexibility working with Charter School Capital in a number of situations when we thought that we were going to get a certain amount of revenue from the state and we didn’t.
Charter School Capital was very flexible and it’s been very easy working with Charter School Capital to fulfill the needs that we have as a school. Certainly, they helped us think about our overall financial picture. And so it was more than just writing us a check.
We had a very good relationship during the years that we’d been using charter school capital. I think it was a good business decision. And as a result of that business decision, we’ve been able to move our children where they need to be academically.

Are you looking into funding options for your charter school? Our team of dedicated professionals works with you to determine funding and facilities options based on your school’s needs. If you are trying to meet operational expenses, expand, acquire or renovate your school building, add an athletic department, enhance school safety/security, or buy new technology, complete the online application below and we’ll contact you to set up a meeting.

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Charter School Capital Helps Minnesota Charter School Bridge the Gap

Paladin Career and Technical High School believes in the innate strength of young people and their ability to overcome adversity with the right support. Paladin offers an individualized instructional model for each student that incorporates work-based learning, seminars, project-based learning and experiential learning to meet the needs of each individual student. Their mission is to help students realize their own potential and provide an environment for them to thrive. Learn how Charter School Capital helped this Minnesota Charter school bridge a major financing gap so they could continue their important work.

“Paladin is a charter school located in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis. It services at-risk individuals 16 to 21 years old. They’re at risk because they’ve had a hard life. Right now, we have 150 students in our school and on any given night, 20 percent of them – by definition – are homeless. We seek to find them safety. We seek to educate them, and we seek to educate them in different areas. We pay our staff well, but we run it as a business. We don’t have waste. We don’t have excess. This year the state held back 40 percent of our money, whether that’s for your rent or your student population, whatever it is, you’re out of money and you had to do something to bridge the gap.”

Charter School Capital, they understood what we were doing. They have educators on staff they understand the process, understand what running the school means.

It was like, wow, where have you been?
If you come to the graduation ceremony, I guarantee it, we make graduate 20 students, there’ll be 300 people there—mothers, fathers, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles will come up to me and say, John is the first one to graduate from high school in our family. We can’t thank you for what you’ve done for our family. That’s our goal. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish, but I think Charter School Capital’s got unbelievable integrity. Their commitment to the industry of charter schools is unsurpassed. I don’t know anybody else out there doing that, and that’s very, very important. They’re committed to the cause that I believe in.”
~Frank Stucki, Chairman of the Board, Paladin Career & Technical High School

The Charter School Capital team works with you to determine funding and facilities options based on your school’s needs. If you are trying to meet operational expenses, expand, acquire or renovate your school building, add an athletic department, buy new technology, or just bridge a funding gap, simply complete the online application below and we’ll contact you to set up a meeting.

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Across the country, today’s charter schools need better access to charter school funding for working capital and facilities financing at all stages of growth. Having reliable sources of charter school funding when needed allows schools to hire teachers, purchase textbooks, upgrade classroom technology, and expand the school’s facilities footprint so charter leaders can focus on what’s most important – educating students.
Working exclusively with charter schools, Charter School Capital understands the daily pressures charter leaders face. Our team works with school leaders to develop the best strategies matched to the school’s unique financial needs. By providing funding for charter schools, we’re empowering you. We give you access to the working capital and facilities financing options you need to stay focused on education, so every student has the opportunity to become someone incredible
Let us help you in planning for your school’s future.
Our team is excited to learn more about your charter school needs. Set up a one-on-one with our client services team to find out how we can help your school. Call 877-272-1001 or email GrowCharters@charterschoolcapital.com.
Want more information on growth capital and facilities financing? We offer information on growth strategies, facilities financing options, student enrollment marketing, and more.

To successfully serve students and provide an excellent education for all, every charter school needs funding. In Minnesota, charter school finance can come from many different sources. Follow these steps to make sure you’re tapping each source of funds for all they’re worth.

Apply for grants. There are many grants available for new charter schools within the first 36 months of their operation, but other grants are available later on as well. The Minnesota Association of Charter Schools maintains a list of grants that offer Minnesota charter school finance. Additionally, the Minnesota Department of Education regularly grants money to top performing charter schools.

General education revenue and transportation revenue are available from the Minnesota state government, per this set of laws.

Charter school capital services are third-party businesses that specialize in raising money for charter schools. To find these services in your area, try searching for them online or in the phone book.

Reach out to the local community. Organize bake sales, car washes, and other creative fundraisers with students’ help. Seek out local businesses willing to donate money to foster effective schooling for children in the area.

Reach out nationally. Sometimes large, nationwide businesses sponsor innovative educational ideas; look for corporate initiatives that offer free computers or supplies to winning schools.

For more information about Minnesota charter school finance options, as well as charter funding in other states, follow our blog.