A Philly charter is challenging the school board’s ability to move forward with charter renewals

A charter school filed suit against the Philadelphia School District and school board Tuesday, saying the system is violating state charter law and should halt all charter renewals citywide.

Philadelphia Montessori Charter asked a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge to stop the school board from moving forward with any charter actions because of the system’s “shifting standards, inconsistent methodologies, and procedures that do not provide fair notice or a neutral adjudicative structure.”

» READ MORE: Two Philly charters were just recommended for nonrenewal

The board earlier this month directed its charter office to prepare notices of nonrenewal for Philadelphia Montessori and Global Leadership Academy Charter School Southwest at Huey, both on grounds of academic, operational, personnel, and financial deficiencies.

Both nonrenewals require board consideration. Votes, once expected at a meeting scheduled for Thursday, are now supposed to appear on the board’s June agenda.

The Philadelphia Montessori suit comes shortly after Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, a citywide advocacy organization, sued the district, alleging the district illegally requires charters to agree to enrollment caps and forces them to close if performance targets are not met.

Lawyers for Philadelphia Montessori, in Southwest Philadelphia, argue that the school system has acknowledged its charter school renewal framework needs adjustment — a process that is ongoing.

That means that schools like Philadelphia Montessori, a K-4 that first opened in 2004, are subject “to evaluation under standards that are materially in flux, with outcomes potentially affected by methodological revisions, discretionary weighting decisions, or evolving policy judgments that are not finalized, uniformly applied, or fully disclosed in advance of decision making.”

Philadelphia Montessori’s charter was last renewed in 2019. The board in 2024 proposed a one-year renewal — not the standard five-year term — for the school, asking it to submit to 14 academic, organizational, and operational conditions in order to strike a deal.

The school never signed the agreement because, the suit said, the charter “included unreasonable terms, including provisions that would allow the school district to unilaterally change evaluation criteria midterm.”

Despite not signing the charter, Philadelphia Montessori, the city’s only public Montessori school, has “substantially complied” with all conditions, officials said.

The school took issue with its being judged, in this year’s charter renewal cycle, using criteria not spelled out in the proposed one-year renewal.

Lawyers said that charter office representatives suggested “possible adverse renewal consequences” if it didn’t sign the one-year charter.

Peng Chao, the district’s chief of charter schools, said in a May 14 presentation that Philadelphia Montessori lags district and similar-school averages in academics, and said it does not show sufficient academic growth.

“But the school district’s academic assessment methodologies are flawed, inconsistent, unreliable, and fail to accurately reflect PCMS’ actual educational performance, growth trends, and student outcomes,” the suit reads.

Instead, lawyers said, the school showed “measurable improvement.” Its leadership also stabilized.

The suit also took issue with the charter office’s contention that the school lacked a certified school nurse for most of the 2024-25 school year. The school had student health and nursing services for the entire year, officials said, “and at no time abandoned or discontinued nursing coverage for students.”

Philadelphia Montessori has asked the court to declare the district’s current charter renewal processes illegal, and asked a judge to adopt a “finalized, transparent and uniformly applicable evaluation framework” before any renewals are made system-wide.

It also specifically asked the court to keep the district from going forward with nonrenewal proceedings against Philadelphia Montessori “absent constitutionally adequate structural safeguards ensuring impartial adjudication.”

The school board, in a statement, said it is using tools available to it under the charter law while keeping a focus on student achievement.

“The board will continue to hold all schools to high standards, celebrating measurable gains, and addressing challenges that may exist as we remain focused on providing every student in Philadelphia with access to a high-quality education and learning environments where they can thrive,” the board said. “We have a duty to hold every charter school accountable for academic success, sound operations, and fiscal integrity in exchange for the high level of autonomy they have in operating schools.”