School district releases charter school adjudications

SOME CHARTER-SCHOOL operators are frustrated and disappointed with school district reports posted yesterday that explained the district's reasoning in denying charter-school applications.

The School Reform Commission last week approved five of the 39 applicants, angering both sides in the charter-school debate. The 39 adjudications posted on the district's website explained why officials did or did not approve a charter.

Jurate Krokys, CEO of American Paradigm Schools, which operates three charter schools, described the decisions for its two applications as "full of inaccuracies." Both of the proposed American Paradigm schools, in Oxford Circle and Port Richmond, were denied.

"There were actual facts that were inaccurate and perhaps it reflected a lot of applications they had to review in a short time," Krokys said.

She said American Paradigm had handed in petitions with signatures for its two proposed charter schools, but did not know that the district wanted all signatures to include addresses and that the signers had to live in the neighborhood of the proposed school.

"None of the signers indicate if they have a child or whether they would be interested in enrolling their child in the school," read the report on Oxford Circle.

"Personally, I think it had a lot to do with the financial constraints the district is facing," said Krokys, who added that American Paradigm officials will decide this week whether to appeal.

"We were not at all deceitful."

Congreso de Latinos Unidos Inc., which runs Pan American Charter School, saw its application for Congreso Academy Charter High School denied, too.

"The applicant has not submitted a clear and cohesive, locally developed curriculum," according to the adjudication report.

"Congreso is obviously disappointed to not be able to provide a high-quality high school option in September 2016," Congreso president and CEO Cynthia Figueroa wrote in an email. "We feel that we prepared a strong proposal. . . . The issues noted in the adjudication report were addressed during the hearings, and would have been thoroughly developed during our 2015-16 planning year."

Congreso will not appeal, but will once again plan for the expansion of its K-8 school.

Tim Eller, executive director of the Keystone Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Harrisburg, said he wasn't familiar with the reports, but nonetheless urged all applicants to appeal their decisions.

"The Charter Appeals Board will look at a decision based on the merits of the application and weigh that against the SRC's denial," he said. "If the SRC denial doesn't carry weight, the [board] would rule in favor of the applicant."

- Staff writer Solomon Leach contributed to this report.

Online: ph.ly/DNEducation