Can a Philly charter close because its founder says so? Here’s what to know about Math, Civics and Sciences.

Unlike protest around other charter closures, the confusion and outrage spurred by the announcement last week that Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School would close wasn’t due to a decision by the Philadelphia school board.

Instead, the founder of the nearly 25-year-old charter said she was retiring and didn’t think anyone could replace her.

The announcement by Veronica Joyner — protested by hundreds of students who walked out of school this past week — prompted some to question: How could one person close a school?

While Joyner told The Inquirer that the charter school’s board of trustees agreed with the closure, she couldn’t say when it had voted. Board members didn’t return messages seeking comment.

If the board didn’t vote, the closure would appear to violate Pennsylvania’s charter school law, observers said.

But they said the situation — which involves a nonprofit run by Joyner planning to sell the charter’s building — also highlighted shortcomings with that law. Here’s what to know:

Normally, charter school closings are dictated by a school district. While charters are independently run, they’re publicly funded and authorized to operate by local districts. In Philadelphia — where about one-third of public school students attend charters — charters typically operate under five-year agreements and are evaluated by the district for renewal or termination.

Mathematics, Civics and Sciences was up for renewal this year. The district’s Charter Schools Office found that while it met financial standards, it fell short in academics and operations. As a result, the office offered only a one-year renewal.

Joyner said this week she considered the offer an insult. She said she planned to retire at the end of the school year in part because she was “tired of fighting” with the office, and didn’t feel comfortable turning the charter over to anyone else.

“It might take five people to do the one job I do,” she said.

» READ MORE: A judge decided a Philly charter didn’t expel a girl because it let her attend virtually. Her lawyers disagree.

Pennsylvania charter law says that a charter’s board “shall have the authority to decide matters related to the operation of the school, including, but not limited to, budgeting, curriculum and operating procedures.”

Closing a school would seem to fall under “operating” it, said Susan DeJarnatt, a professor at Temple Law School: “It shouldn’t be one person’s decision.”

While Joyner told The Inquirer the charter’s board voted to close the school “as early as last year,” she couldn’t say when exactly.

The charter hasn’t posted board minutes online since 2020. Joyner didn’t respond to a follow-up question requesting the minutes from any closure vote.

Board members didn’t respond to requests for comment. One member reached by The Inquirer, Spencer Hill, said Thursday morning that he did “not want to speak for the board” and would call a reporter back; he did not.

Charter school boards “are routinely very weak boards established for the purpose of rubber-stamping,” said Donna Cooper, executive director of Children First. “The model is just rife for behavior by individuals that just can’t happen in the public sector.”

» READ MORE: A Philly student was banned from prom and graduation after he was shot 10 times

Peng Chao, the district’s charter schools chief, said his office has attempted to reach the board to confirm a closure vote has been taken.

”We’ve not received confirmation as of this point,” Chao said on Friday. And communication with Joyner herself, he said, has been “limited.”

”It’s our position that an employee, even if it’s a school leader, wouldn’t have the unilateral authority to close a school,” Chao said. “We absolutely need to hear from the board of the charter school to understand what decision, if any, they’ve made so far.”

Along with the school closure, Joyner said, the building at 447 N. Broad St. would be sold.

Like many charters, Mathematics, Civics and Sciences doesn’t own its building. Instead, it’s owned by a nonprofit — whose president is Joyner.

Many charters lease their buildings from nonprofits: Pennsylvania doesn’t provide charters with funding to buy facilities, but offers a reimbursement for rent payments. In order to receive that money, another entity has to own the building.

But Joyner’s roles have been flagged as problematic. Joyner, who took out a $4 million mortgage to acquire and redevelop the charter property in 2003, signed the lease for the charter building as both the tenant and the landlord — “hardly an arm’s-length transaction,” the city controller’s office said in a 2010 report reviewing charter school oversight.

In 2021, the charter paid Joyner’s nonprofit, Parents United for Better Schools, $515,000 in rent, the vast majority of its income, according to tax filings.

Joyner’s son, Westley Joyner, was also on the five-member Parents United board as of 2021. In earlier years, so was her brother, William Jacobs, according to a 2014 follow-up report by the controller’s office, which said the board had four members at the time. Joyner’s brother and son also both worked for the charter.

Responding to the controller’s office, Joyner said at the time that charter employees sitting on Parents United’s board would not vote on matters related to the charter. (The controller’s office said it couldn’t verify that, ”because the board meeting minutes did not record who and how members voted on board resolutions as required by Pennsylvania Law.”)

Joyner did not respond to a question last week on whether Parents United voted to sell the charter property, which has an assessed value of $8.8 million.

Joyner told The Inquirer that sale proceeds would go to Parents United and be used for “assisting parents” and would not benefit board members.

Joyner — who received a $229,000 salary and $121,000 in other compensation from Mathematics, Civics and Sciences in 2021 — said she wasn’t being paid by Parents United, “unless I start being the head of that after resigning” from the charter.

The impending closure has worried charter advocates.

The African American Charter School Coalition said in a statement it was “deeply concerned about what the decision to close will mean for the 900 students and families, teachers and administrators who are all a part of that school community.”

The coalition — of which Mathematics, Civics and Sciences is not a member — said its members “do not agree or support the actions of Joyner to abruptly close MCS with no transition plan in place for the students.” But, the organization said, “we do share Joyner’s frustration with how the Philadelphia School Board and Charter School Office operates.”

Another charter group, the Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, noted that Joyner’s school has never been a member of their organization, by Joyner’s choice. And, said Amy Hollister, director of community development, “the actions of their leadership does not reflect the values of our charter community: schools that are focused on improving educational quality for children in Philadelphia now and in the future.”

Hollister called Joyner’s decision “irresponsible” and said it would “have a harmful impact on children and their families.” Both charter groups said they stood ready to help families find new schools.

Families, taken by surprise, have expressed frustration and anger. “I am utterly disgusted by everything that is going on at the time with the school,” said Rayanna Tomlin, whose daughter is in fifth grade at the charter.

During a walkout Wednesday, students like Sekhem Robinson worried about finding a new school. “Why would you just close a school like this?” said Robinson, a junior. Another junior, London Coleman, said that Joyner “cannot monetize our education.”

The fact that families are now in this situation — facing a school closure, seemingly initiated by a leader who could profit from the decision — reveals flaws with Pennsylvania’s charter law, said DeJarnatt, the Temple professor.

“It shouldn’t all be under one person’s control,” she said.