School board votes to nonrenew a Philadelphia charter
Philadelphia Montessori has been aggressively attempting to block such action in court. The nonrenewal process can take years.
The Philadelphia school board on Thursday voted to nonrenew a city charter school — despite multiple ongoing lawsuits to attempt to halt the action.
The board voted 7-2 to nonrenew Philadelphia Montessori Charter School, the first step on a long road that could ultimately lead to closing the K-4 school in Southwest Philadelphia.
Sarah-Ashley Andrews, school board vice president, said the school’s students “have shown consistently low academic performance in math and English language arts. Its third and fourth graders have consistently lagged behind their peers in demographically similar schools, school district schools, and other Philadelphia charter schools serving the same grade levels. And student academic growth has not kept pace with state expectations.”
» READ MORE: A Philadelphia charter is suing the district again, trying to block a nonrenewal vote
Philadelphia Montessori has had five different leaders since 2020. In 2024-25, the last school for which data are available, 18% of students met state standards in reading and 12% in math.
School leaders say the school is improving and serves an important role as the only public Montessori school in the city. They have objected to what they say are shifting and arbitrary standards for charter schools.
Board members Crystal Cubbage and Whitney Jones opposed the vote to begin the nonrenewal process. Cubbage, who said she had “mixed feelings” and initially was in favor of the nonrenewal, said she wanted more clarity on the school’s struggles.
Philadelphia Montessori has been aggressively attempting to block such action in court. State and federal lawsuits are pending, with school lawyers asking judges this week to block the board’s vote.
Amanda Wilson, the school’s executive director, asked the board to hold off on the nonrenewal.
“There is no emergency,” Wilson told the board. “There is no deadline requiring a vote before the courts have had the opportunity to weigh in on the significant legal issues surrounding this charter renewal process. Those issues are now pending in both state and federal court, and they deserve to be resolved before any action is taken. If this board proceeds today and the courts later determine that the school district’s process was unlawful, everyone loses.”
Lynn Rauch, the district’s general counsel, said “both the state and the federal court issued rulings that do allow us to proceed with the vote today.”
School board president Reginald Streater said it was appropriate to move forward with the Philadelphia Montessori matter, “exercising our responsibility and duty to ensure that schools throughout our district are meeting their responsibilities to children, families, and taxpayers by demonstrating a high-quality academic experience for our students.”
The school, which educates 228 students in an Island Avenue building, will continue to operate during the nonrenewal process — the appointment of a hearing officer, a formal hearing with witnesses and evidence, a report from the hearing officer, and, finally, another school board vote on how to move forward.
The nonrenewal process can take years.
