Plenty of words are expected to be spilled next week when supporters and foes of a proposed boys-only charter school appear before the Richmond School Board to speak about the combination middle-high school.

But the public hearing that the Richmond School Board has scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, March 16, could be an exercise in futility for charter school organizers such as Tunya Bingham, a corporate tax expert who has spent three years trying to get the Metropolitan Preparatory Academy open.

The School Board already has stripped from the budget proposal it sent Mayor Dwight C. Jones a $1 million request that would allow the public, tuition-free, open-enrollment school to enroll its first 100-student sixth-grade class.

Plans call for the school to enroll 700 students when the first class reaches 12th grade.

In addition, a Free Press survey of School Board members shows that at least five of the board’s nine members plan to give the charter school proposal a thumbs-down when it comes up for a vote.

Typical was the response from Dr. Derik Jones, 8th District: “I am not inclined to vote for the charter school at this time. Lack of an identified facility as well as the necessary financial standing give me pause,” he replied in an email.

“Perhaps we can revisit during the next budget cycle as I do believe that the intent and approach of the proposed charter school provides added value to the district.”

Shonda Harris-Muhammed, 6th District, also stated that she could not support funding for a new school largely because “a building has not been identified.”

Kimberly B. Gray, 2nd District, Mamie Taylor, 5th District, and Tichi Pinkney Eppes, 9th District, raised similar concerns.

Kristen Larson, 4th District, responded that she is still mulling the question, and the other three members did not respond to the survey.

Richmond currently has two charter schools — the elementary grade Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts that opened in 2010, and the Richmond Career Education and Employment Academy that opened in 2013 for middle and high school students with cognitive disabilities.

For the School Board, there is a question as to whether the public school system can afford a third charter school no matter how meritorious. The existing charter schools require more than $3 million in annual funding. The proposed Metropolitan School would require up to $7 million a year in public support at full capacity — or at least $10,000 per student.

In addition, the proposed school would add capacity at the middle and high school levels at a time when Superintendent Dana T. Bedden has noted there are 1,500 empty seats in Richmond’s existing secondary schools.

Ms. Bingham believes the academy could be a game-changer for the city.

She notes parents fret about having to send their children to the city’s middle and high schools out of concern about the quality of education. Some leave the city or enroll their students in private schools.

Ms. Bingham said that proposed school would provide the quality education that parents are looking for.