District spars with charter school at Phila. hearing

The Philadelphia School District and the city's oldest charter school sparred over the school's academic performance during a district hearing Monday on whether its operating charter should be renewed.

Community Academy of Philadelphia opened in 1997, but the School Reform Commission said in January its operating charter should not be renewed because of poor academic performance and financial problems.

During Monday's opening session of the hearing, Rosemary Hughes, the district's deputy chief accountability officer, said Community Academy had only met the state's academic benchmarks once in the last several years, and its students scored far below the average of other city charter schools and often scored lower than the average for district schools.

During more than three hours of testimony, Hughes said only one other charter school in the city - Hope - was in the same low category under the state's academic benchmarks. Hope, a high school in Germantown for struggling students, has agreed to close in June.

David P. Heim, Community Academy's lead attorney, argued that it was unfair to compare the Kensington charter with other charter schools in the city because many have admission policies that screen out students with academic weaknesses.

"We are welcoming," said Heim, who said Community's mission is to serve at-risk students.

He also maintained that Community should not be compared with the district because the district's average scores had been inflated by cheating. There are allegations that cheating occurred in 2009, 2010, and 2011 at 53 of the district's 242-plus schools.

Hughes said the district had not recalculated district averages because the cheating investigation was continuing. She acknowledged that test scores in district schools dropped after strict monitoring procedures were put in place in 2012.

Community's finances and management practices are expected to be covered when the renewal hearing resumes May 6 at 9 a.m. at the district administration building.

The hearing was scheduled after the SRC voted, 4-0, in January to take the first step toward not giving the school, which has 1,235 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, a new five-year operating agreement.

The hearing gives Community the chance to challenge the district's findings and present evidence for staying open.