Mosque Leaders Want a Full-Time Islamic School in Winston-Salem

-- Winston-Salem will have a full-fledged Islamic school within the next two years, say leaders at the Community Mosque of Winston-Salem, North Carolina . We're exploring all possibilities," said Imam Khalid Griggs. "We have a commitment from the mosque's leadership to make this happen" . Leaders are looking into creating a private school or a charter school. Islamic private schools already operate in several North Carolina cities, including Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Durham . The United States had 235 elementary or secondary private schools with an Islamic orientation in 2008, according to the latest count from the National Center for Education Statistics . Mosque leaders in Winston-Salem have looked into whether their current location at 1419 Waughtown St., the site of a former church, could be used for the school . But state law requires that kindergarten and primary school classrooms have a door or emergency exit to the outside, and the classrooms in the mosque don't have this . So we'd have to buy land and build," Griggs said. "The current mosque would not work . Ninety-nine charter schools operate in North Carolina today, with the 100th already approved, said Joel Medley, a consultant with the Office of Charter Schools in the N.C. Department of Education . It looks like the incoming legislature might look at this issue," and perhaps raise or get rid of the cap, Medley said . In any case, N.C. law states that charter schools, which receive government funding, must be nonsectarian, meaning that they cannot be attached to a religious entity. Charter schools are public but operate outside the system of regular schools and generally follow a specialized curriculum or operating principles . There are no religious charter schools in North Carolina," said Vanessa Jeter, communications director for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. "State taxpayer dollars cannot support religious schools .

Source: Journalnow