School Lawsuit: The Battle of HoLa Continues in Hoboken

The Hoboken Board of Education’s fight to halt the expansion of local charter school HoLa will rage on.

During a public meeting on Tuesday, the board voted to authorize its lawyers to “take any and all appropriate action to pursue appellate review” of NJ Education Commissioner David Hespe’s March ruling, which will allow the school to add extra grade levels.

The board has argued that the charter school’s expansion has shown trends of segregation, and that the percentage of minority students who attend HoLa is about half that of the district’s public schools. [See related Patch article]

According to the board’s attorney, Marie-Laurence Fabian, the appeal process will be funded by private donations.

However, HoLa Board President Barbara Martinez had a different opinion, according to a recent article in the Hudson Reporter:

“Martinez emphasized that, though the school board’s appeal would be funded privately from here on out, her own school’s legal defense would continue to be funded with taxpayer money anyway, as the charter schools are considered public schools… Thus, the public is still paying toward the effort.”

Are you willing to kick in to keep the board’s courtroom battle going? Share your opinion with the Patch community here!