Charter School Application to be Resubmitted

The founders of the proposed Keystone Charter School are not giving up.

The leading founder said Tuesday that the school application, which was defeated and harshly criticized by the Bensalem Board of Education last month, will be resubmitted with minor revisions.

“We'll probably resubmit this month. It will be about a week from now,” said Ark Libkind. “There are not a lot of things we need to fix. There are a couple little things that are not required by Act 22 (the charter school law) but we think it's fair to submit.”

Libkind said he is sure the school will become a reality.

“I have no doubt the school will be established,” he offered. “It's not q question of if it will be established; it's a matter of when it will be established. We'll most likely lose a year and open in 2012.”

The board provided a laundry list of reasons in rejecting the application Feb. 23 including a lack of educational experience among school founders; budget deficiencies; and failure to demonstrate sustainable community support. Board members also said several “factual discrepancies” in the application had left them with a lack of trust.

Libkind repeated Tuesday his belief that the state charter school law does not require founders to have educational background nor for an application to include a detailed budget. But he also said the board ignored the fact that two founders have significant educational experience.

He said the new submission will include the resumes of founders, the number of which he said has grown.

The new submission won't include more funding.

“There is enough budget,” said Libkind.

At this point, he said, the school is still proposed for the Metropolitan Industrial Center in Trevose, despite the fact that would require zoning variances from the township.

“That's not their concern,” said Libkind of the school board.

Superintendent Bill Gretzula said Tuesday afternoon that he was unaware of the founder's intent to resubmit the application.

“Should the founders choose to re-apply, which is their right under Act 22, I expect the board and administration will conduct another thorough review, as was demonstrated previously.”

Having not heard directly from the founders, Gretzula declined further comment.

Libkind said Tuesday that the founders would appeal to the state if the board does not approve the revised application.

Libkind added that he expects state lawmakers to introduce new charter school legislation this month that could help his group's chances.

“I've heard several different options but we believe the new law will be beneficial to charter schools,” he said.

The school has been planned to utilize the International Baccalaureate Organization program.

A ten-page resolution approved by the board was comprised of 23 findings to support the rejection. They included the board's belief that none of the school founders had any experience with the IBO program nor any experience with K-12 administration or teaching. The board also said there was no evidence the founders had contacted the IBO organization.

The board also criticized the founders for misrepresenting support from the community including never providing promised letters of support from local elected officials.

Budget deficiencies cited by the board included “grossly inadequate” funding for employee medical insurance and outdated figures for pension funding.

Libkind, director of a former law enforcement academy in Philadelphia, previously said the initial application may have contained mistakes but he disputed the board's contention that it included “erroneous and unreliable misinformation.”

The founders have said more than 300 members of the community support the project and that 300 students had pre-enrolled. More than a dozen area residents expressed their support during a Feb. 9 hearing but few gave any specific reasons.

The Keystone Academy would be the second charter school in Bensalem, with School Lane Charter School already in operation.