Annoyed School Board Again Nixes Charter School

A revised application for a charter school in Trevose has been nixed by the , which said the myriad concerns it expressed in its first rejection had not been addressed.

Those concerns include an apparent lack of both community support and educational experience among the proposed school's founders.

“Their attitude is 'here we are, approve us',” board member Harry Kramer said immediately after Wednesday's school board meeting.

Kramer's comments followed a board resolution that listed 25 reasons for the rejection, two more than when the board said no in February to the K-12 Keystone Charter School Academy. The list was similar and included the following issues:

• Not one founding member experienced in K-12 education or having been a school administrator at any level
• An undeveloped educational program
• No letters of support from local government officials or business leaders, as promised
• Budget deficiencies including inadequate funding for employee medical insurance
• Failure to provide criminal background checks;
• No proof the founders were prepared to administer the International Baccalaureate Organization program
• No proof the proposed site in the Metropolitan Industrial Center is available or that a necessary zoning variance had been sought

Kramer wasn't the only board member genuinely annoyed the revised application seemed to ignore the district's previously stated concerns. Yagnesh Choksi acknowledged that he had urged his colleagues to give the founders more time and said he was disappointed that time wasn't used to answer district questions. Ralph Douglass said the applicants spent most of their time legally justifying why they didn't have to respond to concerns.

The founders previously said more than 300 members of the community support the project and that 300 students had pre-enrolled.

Leading founder Ark Libkind, who left the meeting immediately after the board vote, has said he plans to appeal a second rejection to the state. There is proposed legislation that would allow charter school applications to go directly to the state Department of Education. And that apparently doesn't sit well with board member Chester Marshall.

“...the local school board knows the needs of the community; knows the challenges faced by its unique blend of families and students; that it has modified its programs over the years to bring the best possible curriculum to its particular student body. And that it is the only functioning body that represents the community as a whole and knows what is best for the students within the area of its responsibilities,” he said Wednesday.

Keystone would be the second charter in the township, the first being School Lane Charter. Kramer said he is the only current board member who was on the board in the late 90s when School Lane was approved, and he described the difference between the two applications as “night and day.”

“It's a shame you can't learn from the previous charter school, what they did,” he added.

District leaders made it clear earlier this month that they were not impressed with the revised application, which was still calling for a September opening.

Former Superintendent Bill Gretzula said during the Aug. 3 hearing on the revised application that school founders had made less than a dozen revisions, most of which involved adding some staff members.

Wednesday's rejection came on a 7-0 vote, as Heather Nicholas and Sherri Underland did not attend the meeting.