EAST TOLEDO, Ohio – A run-down, abandoned old hosiery factory has been transformed into a bright and shiny new school in East Toledo. However, the reason a factory had to be renovated rather than an existing, unused public school is because of Toledo’s history of deed restrictions on charters.

The L. Hollingsworth School for the Talented and Gifted was converted into a state-of-the-art facility for $5 million. The school was named for Leta Hollingsworth (1886-1939), a pioneering psychologist recognized for her studies of exceptional children. However, Terrence Franklin, the founder and head of the kindergarten-through-ninth grade facility says the school is open to all Ohio students and that parents should not be apprehensive about the “Talented and Gifted” part of the school’s name.

The school has 16 classrooms and an impressive multipurpose gymnasium. Plans call for adding a high school grade each academic year and Franklin expects 475 students will eventually be enrolled.

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Kudos to Hollingsworth for establishing a charter school in such an unusual location. But the fact is many charters have had to open their doors in unusual facilities because public schools have and continue to make it difficult to get access to vacant or unused public school buildings, which would be much easier and cheaper to utilize. That’s because public schools don’t like the competition. They want to retain as many students as possible in order to maximize the amount of tax dollars they receive.

As an example, the Toledo Public Schools wanted to get rid of their Libbey High School campus as a cost saving measure. Several people, including some alumni, wanted to preserve the building for its historic nature. But TPS turned a deaf ear toward them.

Then it turned out the board worked out a deal with the City of Toledo. It would sell them the field house, skill center and football stadium for $1 million. At the same time, they would go ahead with razing the school building itself.

However, state law says school buildings need to be offered to public schools—including charters—before they can be torn down. According to a board member, that was done for 60 days. And no school, private or charter, showed any interest. So TPS went ahead with their deal with the city.

It turns out there was a clause in the agreement which prohibits charter schools from acquiring the building. Deputy Mayor Steve Herwat even referenced the deed restriction during a council meeting. “And let me point out in our discussions with TPS, they are insisting and we have agreed to put a deed restriction in the deed that would not allow this facility to be operated as a charter school,” he said. Sources witing the Toledo Public Schools told the Toledo Free Press they believed Herwat “made an unintentional misstatement.”

The Cincinnati Public Schools were doing the same thing, prohibiting the sale of unused, available public school buildings to charter schools and private schools. A lawsuit made it to the Supreme Court of Ohio which ruled such deed restrictions were illegal.

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Maurice Thompson of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law stated, “Deed restrictions like the one struck down in this case were devised simply to stop new charter and private schools from opening in Cincinnati, so that CPS could retain students and protect its state funds.”

School choice proponents hailed it as a victory for charter and private school operators throughout the state.

Even though deed restrictions are prohibited, that doesn’t mean public schools are still going to make it difficult for charters to move into the many public school buildings that have been abandoned for newer schools.

Whether that’s why Hollingsworth renovated an old hosiery factory is not known. What is known is that they have moved into a fine facility which will give them a leg up on a road to success for their students.