A Union County mom is calling for equal access for her children’s education, saying they face a hard road to get to their preferred high school.

Angela Tart, a mother of twins in eighth grade at a Union County charter school, said recent actions by UCPS’ Board of Education upset her children.

“I can tell you that at least one of my daughters was devastated. This was her plan. She had worked all semester so far to bring her grades up considering how everything was last year, with COVID,” Tart said about a board vote in December.

What You Need To Know

Union County mom says UCPS board decision will make it harder for her daughters to get into special program public high schools

Board's most recent policy creates two lotteries, one for UCPS students and one for prospective students, if seats remain

Mom says it creates a disadvantage for her children

Originally, in a Dec. 7 meeting, the board voted to close the lotteries for special program schools, like Central Academy of Technology and Arts (CATA), to only current UCPS students.

“Unless moving into Union County or the student is the child of an employee that resides outside of Union County, all students must be enrolled in and attending Union County Public Schools at the time an application for a transfer or lottery for a Special Program School is submitted,” the revised policy read.

Tart said she and other charter school parents felt the change was unfair.

“These are Union County residents, these are parents and taxpayers here in the county. And it is not fair that they should be discriminated against because they went to a different school,” she said.

Tart said her daughters were hoping to apply for the lottery to attend CATA.

“One of my daughters wants to be a paramedic, the other is thinking of being a nurse in the military,” Tart added.

But their plan is now in doubt, as Tart said the board’s recent change will make it challenging for her children to get into CATA, compared with current UCPS students.

In its regular January meeting, the board voted on and approved an updated special program lottery policy. The new policy, replacing what was approved in December, allows a second lottery for students who prospectively enroll in UCPS but are not current students.

“Once the prospective enrollment process is complete, the student will be eligible to apply for a lottery filling any open seats after the initial lottery is run,” the new policy states.

For Tart, the change is welcome, but she still described it as an unfair advantage for current UCPS students, since the second lottery is only available if open seats remain.

“It is also my choice and my right as a parent to place my children in charter school where I knew they were getting the kind of education that I wanted them to get. They should not be penalized for my choice. Their choice to apply to CATA, or to apply to early college, or the baccalaureate program, that is a choice they’re making. The only choice they should be held accountable for is their own choice,” Tart said.

With applications due Feb. 6, Tart said she hopes her children get a chance through the second lottery. But she said they were already preparing with backup plans.

“We have looked at another charter school, it’s a public high school charter school,” Tart said, “They do now have a health sciences department, so that is an alternative. She preferred CATA because it has pathways towards nurse practitioner and for help in what college she wants to go to, because she wants to go to Seattle.”

As of mid-January, a UCPS spokesperson said the final number of open seats for CATA in the next school year is not determined at this time.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to board chair Melissa Merrell, vice chair Kathy Heintel and board member Gary Sides to ask why the policy had changed twice in recent months and why the board originally voted to keep the lottery for current students only.

In a brief email, Sides confirmed the policy was most recently changed during the board’s January meeting but did not go into detail about why the changes were made.

Spectrum News 1 will update this story with additional responses.