- December 16, 2025
School Board OK’d the contract for the Global Outreach Academy of Palm Coast, a Russian bilingual school.
The Flagler County School Board approved in September the addition of a Russian bilingual school for operation in the district. On Jan. 3, the academy’s contract with Flagler was finalized.
The school, to be located in Roma Court, near the Flagler Technical Institute, is scheduled to open in the fall of this year.
With a target enrollment of 364 students its first year, the Global Outreach Academy has a five-year contract, with five-year renewal options. Initially included in the contract, though, was a stipulation which granted the academy a 10-year renewal option, should it receive a grade of an A or B in three of its first four years of operation.
The option was erased on the insistence of Board member Colleen Conklin.
“It puts concern for me that there would be more incentive to discharge students that don’t fit the bill, or have a discipline issue,” she said, citing charters’ ability to more easily expel students who don’t conform to its policies.
“We’ve had a difficult time in the past with other charter schools,” she added. “A lot can happen in 10 years. How does that benefit us or the students?”
Board member Andy Dance saw the 10-year stipulation as an incentive for success.
“As a district, we don’t want mediocre charter schools,” he said. “This is an incentive … to become an A or B school. … It gives the perception that we’re going to reward (excellence).”
School Board Attorney Kirsty Gavin noted that, 10-year option or not, the school would still come under annual review, and its contract could be terminated with just cause.
Still, the 10-year option was struck, and the contract was unanimously approved.
“Russian is not first in this school,” said Paul Bratulin, academy spokesman, when the school initially presented to the board in September. Instead, he explained that Global Outreach will use foreign language as a gateway into higher learning. Core academics and standardized tests remain the top priorities.
“Children who learn Russian early on can go on to master English much earlier,” he said.
Learning Russian also helps in grasping logic-based subjects, he added, because the language is based on the same reasoning as mathematics.
The school’s founder, Sergey Soroka, also runs schools in Jacksonville and California.
If the facility does not open by the 2013-2014 school year, its application would be voided. It would also be terminated if the school receives an F grade in two consecutive years.
