Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School v. School District

38 Pa. D. & C.5th 90
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedApril 21, 2014
DocketNos. 2783, 2774, 2781(L), 2773; No. 1257
StatusPublished

This text of 38 Pa. D. & C.5th 90 (Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School v. School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School v. School District, 38 Pa. D. & C.5th 90 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

GLAZER, J,

OPINION

Article III § 14 of the Pennsylvania Constitution requires the General Assembly to provide public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth. The Constitution recognizes that the cause of education is one of the distinct obligations of the State but makes it an indispensible government function.1 Presently pending before the court is an issue of first impression, whether defendant School [92]*92Reform Commission (“SRC”) has the authority to suspend the requirements of the Charter School Law as it pertains to enrollment caps and funding requirements.

A. Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School.

Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School (“Charter School”) was created in 2001 when the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia (‘School District”) granted it an original charter. The original charter did not contain an enrollment cap nor did it incorporate extraneous conditions outside the scope of the Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law. On September 1, 2005, the Charter School was renewed for a five year term. The renewal contained an enrollment cap of 400 students.

In 2010, after operating under the 2005 charter for five years, Richard Allen submitted a renewal charter application for a five-year term beginning in 2010. On June 16,2010, the SRC adopted Resolution SRC-35 which contained a provision limiting the enrollment of Richard Allen to 400 Students. The SRC also passed Resolution SRC-53 on June 16, 2010 which authorized the Charter School to educate 25 additional students, to make a total enrollment of 425 students.

B. Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School

The Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School obtained a charter in 2005, and operated under that charter. In 2010, the Charter School requested a renewal. On June 16, 2010, the SRC adopted resolution SRC-35 which contained a provision limiting the enrollment of the Charter School to 438 students in grades K-8. Under Resolution SRC-53 also dated June 16, 2010, the Charter School was authorized to educate 40 additional students, [93]*93to make a total enrollment of the Charter School to 438 students in grades K-8.

C. Wakisha Charter School

Wakisha Charter School began operation in 2000, when the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia granted its original charter. After a one-year extension of the original charter, Wakisha’s Charter was renewed for a five-year term beginning in 2005. In 2010, Wakisha submitted a renewal charter application for a five-year charter term to begin 2010. On June 16, 2010, the SRC adopted resolution SRC-35 which contained a provision limiting the enrollment of Wakisha to 400 students.

D. Walter D. Palmer Leadership Partners Charter School

Walter D. Palmer Leadership Partners Charter School received its original charter from the Charter School Appeal Board for a five-year term, commencing July 1, 2000. Leadership Partners’ charter was renewed for a five year term, commencing on September 1, 2005. The renewal charter limited Leadership Partners’ enrollment to 675 students. On January 15, 2010, after operating under the 2005 renewal charter for five years, the Charter School submitted a renewal charter application for a five-year charter term to begin in 2010. On June 16, 2010, the SRC adopted Resolution SRC-44 which contained a provision limiting the enrollment of Leadership Learning to 675 students.2

[94]*94E. Delaware Valley Charter High School

Delaware Valley Charter High School began operation in 2000, when the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia granted its original charter. Delaware Valley’s charter was renewed for a five-year term, commencing 2005. In 2010, Delaware Valley submitted a renewal charter application for a five-year charter term to begin in 2010. On June 16, 2010, the SRC adopted Resolution SRC-35 which contained a provision limiting the enrollment to 400 students.

F. Facts Applicable to all Charter Schools

In 2009 and 2010, the Charter Schools submitted renewal applications. On May 18, 2010, a representative in the SRC Charter School’s office sent an email to each Charter School requesting certain documentation in connection the Charter School’s charter renewal request. The Charter Schools were responsive to this request. On June 7, 2010, a School District representative emailed each of the Charter Schools stating that the charter renewal vote had been moved from June 9, 2010 to June 16,2010.

At the public meeting on June 16, 2010, the School District never provided the Charter Schools with notice of a hearing on the Proposed Charter, an opportunity to present witnesses or to cross examine witnesses or findings of facts or conclusions of laws. The Charter Schools received the SRC’s renewal report in the form of individual resolutions as set forth above. The resolutions were revealed and provided for the first time at the SRC’s June 16, 2010 Public Meeting. The Charter Schools did not agree to the enrollment caps or the alleged additional conditions contained within the Proposed Charter. The conditions included but were not limited to the following:

[95]*951. Denying funding for the Charter School’s special education students unless the School satisfied certain conditions that were allegedly not mandated by the Charter School Law;
2. Requiring the Charter School to comply with provisions governing curriculum and assessment of student performance that were allegedly contrary to or in violation of the Charter School Law;
3. Requiring the Charter School to administer School District’s city-wide academic assessments and mandated performance targets set by the School District’s city wide academic accountability systems;
4. Prohibiting Charter School professional staff, including teachers from becoming employees or independent contractors of management or educational management entities;
5. Requiring the Charter School’s annual report to incorporate specific information which is above and beyond the requested information within Pennsylvania Secretary of Education’s form prescribed by the Secretary of Education;
6. Making the School District’s obligation to make payments to the Charter School an unsecured obligation and removing as an option the Charter School’s ability to have a lien, security interest, claim or right to any revenues, receipts, accounts or income of the School District whether paid or payable to the School District;
7. Requiring the Charter School to use the School District’s Computer Network to report enrollment numbers;
[96]*968. Requiring each Charter School to provide notification of its admissions lottery, and allow the School District the right to observe the Charter School’s admissions lottery process;
9. Requiring each Charter School to submit monthly student attendance reports to the School District;
10.

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Bluebook (online)
38 Pa. D. & C.5th 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richard-allen-preparatory-charter-school-v-school-district-pactcomplphilad-2014.