Philadelphia district sues school and state

The School District of Philadelphia is fighting back in a dispute with a charter school over student enrollment and its high school program.

The district has filed its own suit in Commonwealth Court against the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School and the state Department of Education.

The suit is in response to a suit the charter school filed Sept. 24 challenging the district's practice of limiting enrollment in its agreements with the city's 74 charter schools.

The dueling suits set up a battle over the question of whether school districts can control the growth of charter schools. That is especially important in Philadelphia, which has the most charters in the state.

The district claims the charter school agreed in 2005 to limit its enrollment to 675 students. The school, whose main campus is at 910 N. Sixth St., now has nearly 900 students

In June, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted to grant the school a new operating charter for a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school with no more than 675 students.

The district also contends the Education Department improperly has threatened to withhold from it $1.7 million in state aid that the charter school claims it is owed for enrolling additional students.

State law permits the department to divert money to charter schools when districts refuse to pay tuition for their students.

In its lawsuit, the Palmer charter school says state law prohibits the district from capping its enrollment.

In its documents, the district maintains that the law says enrollment limits are permitted when "agreed to by the charter school."

The school has asked the court to bar the state from holding an administration hearing and to transfer the $1.7 million immediately.

The district wants the court to order the Education Department to send it that money and to bar the charter from enrolling more than 675 students.

Commonwealth Court will consider both sides' requests at a hearing Oct. 14 in Harrisburg.