District Receives 3 More Charter School Applications

With one charter school decision pending, the has been hit with an unprecedented three additional applications.

Since state law requires hearings within 45 days of the receipt of charter applications, the school board will be holding three separate hearings next month.

And some district leaders are none too happy.

“To be perfectly honest I'm annoyed,” board President Heather Nicholas said after Tuesday's meeting.

Superintendent David Baugh quickly interjected, “All nine of our schools just made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and it's disheartening to think that anyone who can put together a business plan can open a school.”

During the meeting Nicholas announced the applications of Bensalem Entrepreneurial Charter School, Bensalem Academy Charter School and Isaac Newton Charter School. She said the board will hold a hearing Dec. 7 for Bensalem Entrepreneurial, Dec. 13 for Bensalem Academy and Dec. 19 for Isaac Newton.

“Not only are we under this time constraint, there are also financial issues,” Nicholas added after Baugh's comment. “We have to pay our solicitor for his time and a court reporter for each hearing. It takes the time of our administration. It's very taxing.

“The way the law is written anyone can try to start a school.”

Nicholas said Bensalem Entrepreneurial founders are proposing an eighth-through 12th-grade school. Other information on the applications, including the proposed sites, was not immediately available.

Less than two weeks ago, the board held a hearing on School Lane Charter School's application for a high school on Tillman Drive, across from . That brought out a standing-room-only crowd of supporters and elicited positive comments from the board.

At the time, Baugh said he expected the board to render a decision on that application next month. But Nicholas said Tuesday that might happen later because of three new board members coming on board Dec. 5 after this month's general election.

School Lane Charter, currently a K-8 school, is the township's only charter school. It has been open 13 years.

In February and August, the board rejected plans for a K-8 Keystone Academy Charter School, citing more than two dozen reasons including a lack of community support and educational experience among founders.