A charter seeking to open on Valley Forge Military Academy’s campus has withdrawn its application
The proposed Valley Forge Public Service Academy cited Radnor Township's move to take some of the military academy's land by eminent domain. The group said it may resubmit a plan at a later date.
A group seeking to open a charter school on the Valley Forge Military Academy campus has withdrawn its application, citing a move by Radnor Township to take some of the land by eminent domain.
The board of the proposed Valley Forge Public Service Academy says it plans to resubmit its application to the Radnor school board once the township’s plan to take 14 acres by eminent domain “has been clarified sufficiently to ensure the welfare and safety” of potential students and staff.
The Radnor Township Board of Commissioners voted last week to authorize the township’s solicitor to acquire the land from the military academy, which is set to close in May amid financial turmoil and abuse allegations.
Township officials say they want to prevent more development around North Wayne. At a meeting last week, Radnor Commissioner Jack Larkin said the township had reached out to military academy officials to negotiate a deal, but had not heard back.
Alan Wohlstetter, a charter school consultant who is backing the proposed Valley Forge charter, said the move to use eminent domain was “clearly not something we could have anticipated.”
“Clarification is now needed on a number of items in order for us to proceed with our application,” Wohlstetter said in a statement Thursday.
Plans for the charter — which was proposed to open this fall and enroll up to 150 students — had been in the works since last year, even before the military academy announced its closure. The once-storied academy, which has struggled with declining enrollment, mounting costs, and a series of abuse scandals, had discussed renting its campus to the proposed new charter.
It was the latest plan for a charter school — which are publicly funded but privately managed — to rent facilities from the military academy.
The Radnor school board — which like other Pennsylvania school boards has the power to approve or deny applications for new charters seeking to open in their districts — has rejected two previous charter proposals at the military academy campus.
The board held its first hearing on the latest proposal in December and a second hearing had been scheduled for this month.
The academy spans about 70 acres. In December, Eastern University entered an agreement to buy 33 acres of the property.
In pursuing eminent domain, Radnor officials say they’re considering taking 14 acres to build a replacement for the township’s recreation center, along with a park.
While Larkin said he did not believe the plan would conflict with the proposed charter school, Wohlstetter said the charter’s backers needed clarity on which acres would be affected, and how the plan would impact traffic and parking.
The uncertainty impairs the charter’s ability to pre-enroll students, Wohlstetter said — adding that the charter wants to be “good partners to the Radnor community.”
Wohlstetter said the charter would resubmit its application to the school board “at a future date.” The proposed charter would enroll students in grades 6-12, with a focus on preparing them for careers in public service fields like law enforcement, firefighting and EMS.