Judge orders Palmer charter to pay back $1.5 million

The Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School has received more bad news.

The charter - which has said it might have to close because it cannot pay its bills - has been ordered to repay the School District of Philadelphia the $1.5 million it has received over the last several years for students it was not authorized to enroll.

Commonwealth Court Judge James Gardner Colins issued the order Thursday. It stemmed from a state Supreme Court decision in May that the school was bound by the terms of the charter it signed in 2005, which limited enrollment to 675 students.

The school has 1,290 students on its campuses in Northern Liberties and Frankford.

Walter D. Palmer, who founded the charter that bears his name, said Friday he had not heard about the Commonwealth Court order and was not sure how it might complicate the school's plans.

"We are still trying hard to find a path that makes sense," he said.

Palmer said the school has scheduled a community meeting for 6 p.m. Monday at the Northern Liberties campus, 910 N. Sixth St., to talk about options. A court appeal is one option, he said, while reconfiguring the school was another.

"We are just looking at everything," Palmer said. "We are telling parents the school is open, and we intend to stay open and find a resolution for the children."

Commonwealth Court became involved because the Supreme Court directed it to handle the details of the money the district had overpaid the school in prior years.

Colins said the total was $1.5 million, including interest.

In documents opposing the district's request for the funds, the charter said it "cannot afford to pay the moneys it owes the School District."

The charter said it could be forced to close "in a matter of weeks" if the court granted the district's request to withhold payments to the school until the debt was repaid.

Colins said the court had wanted the charter to reach a payment plan with the district to avoid closing but said the charter "has not proposed any reasonable repayment schedule."

The school said it could only pay the district $30,000 per month.

Colins said interest on the school's debt would be 6 percent per year.

The Commonwealth Court order came one day after Common Pleas Court Judge Nina Wright Padilla rejected the charter's emergency request for a $1.4 million payment from the district, money the charter said it was owed for educating the additional students since June.

Without that money, Palmer officials had said the charter might be forced to close by month's end.

The district has sent letters and made automated calls to charter parents telling them how students can transfer to other schools.

The district also has scheduled information sessions for charter parents at Ludlow School, 550 W. Master St., at 4 p.m. Monday and 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, and at Frankford High School at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.