Education Plus wants to open a regular charter

A cyber school that got into hot water with the state Department of Education for operating more like a regular charter than an online school said it plans to apply to open a traditional charter school in Philadelphia next fall.

Nicholas Torres, chief executive of the Education Plus Academy Cyber Charter School, which focuses on students with learning needs, confirmed Friday that Education Plus wants to operate a brick-and-mortar charter in the district. He said the company would submit its application before the School Reform Commission's Nov. 15 deadline.

Education Plus is negotiating with the state to continue running its program, which blends online learning with classroom instruction at eight student learning and tutoring centers, he said.

Torres said opening a regular charter in Philadelphia would ensure that the 250 to 300 Education Plus students in the city would be able to continue with the program.

An Education Department spokeswoman said Friday that there are no plans to close Education Plus as a cyber school.

The cyber, which is headquartered in Wayne, has scheduled a meeting for Monday at its learning center in the Northeast to tell parents about the charter application.

Torres said his cyber still has two more years left on its operating agreement with the state.

Education Plus has told the district it wants to open a school next fall with grades K-9 and later expand to K-12.

The organization is one of 22 groups that have sent letters of intent indicating they plan to submit charter applications to the district.

Expected applicants include the newly proposed Technical Institute of Meteorology and Astronomy, which is seeking to open a K-4 school in Bridesburg, and the Liguori Academy Charter School, which is planning for a high school in Kensington for at-risk students.

Liguori, which would combine online course work and instruction that would equip students to graduate and obtain skilled jobs, was turned down last year.

Michael V. Marrone, president of the Liguori board, said his group was excited to reapply. He said the proposal had been tweaked based on recommendations it received from the district last year.

Public hearings on applications will be held this year.

The SRC approved only five of 39 applications it received last year.

The district's 83 existing charters enroll more than 65,000 students.

martha.woodall@phillynews.com215-854-2789@marwooda