Winslow charter school to fight N.J. nonrenewal

The Institute for Excellence Charter School of Winslow Township has known for a week that the New Jersey Department of Education will not renew its charter for the fall.

Absent a reversal of that order, the 480-pupil school will have to close permanently June 28.

But some parents, teachers, and administrators at the embattled K-5 are not waiting for its board to decide about a legal appeal.

They have stepped up with an aggressive social-media and grassroots campaign that targets Gov. Christie, the Legislature, the state Education Department, and the school's own board of trustees.

Actions include: a petition drive; letter-writing organized by the Family School Association; and a fund-raising dance planned for March 22 at a location to be named.

A Twitter handle, @SaveTIFECS, was created, and organizers are collecting contact information from parents for a larger volunteer effort.

A "Save TIFECS Committee," with two administrators, a teacher, and a board member, also has been formed.

"Parents will have their voices heard, teachers will have their voices heard, students will have their voices heard," said Diane Osbourne, the school's acting director.

She was interviewed Thursday, a day after a three-hour meeting of the board ended with no decision about whether the four-year-old school would appeal. Another meeting of the board is scheduled for March 20.

A letter describing the situation was sent home with students Thursday. A letter distributed Wednesday offered talking points to be used when contacting legislators.

A parent-sponsored petition on Change.org has received more than 740 signatures since its creation Monday night.

The petition describes the charter as the only option for parents seeking "an alternative to the underperforming Winslow schools."

The petition's creator, Denise Krieger, said its goal was to demonstrate to state officials that TIFECS has parental support.

The state's decision to close the school was based in large part on results of the NJASK standardized test.

An Inquirer analysis of state data shows that the Institute for Excellence has underperformed both the public schools in Winslow and the average for all schools in New Jersey.

Last year, third- and fourth-grade proficiency rates at the charter were 13 percentage points lower for language arts and 19 points for math compared with Winslow Township's school district as a whole, the analysis found.

In its Feb. 28 letter telling the school that its charter would not be renewed, the Department of Education said the charter was in the lowest performing 9 percent of schools statewide. It said that 41.4 percent of TIFECS students scored proficient or higher in language-arts literacy and that 46.5 percent were proficient or higher in math.

Several parents interviewed said the test scores did not measure issues like school safety, social development, and parent-teacher relationships, at which they say the school excels.

Tiffany Imparato, one of the parents involved in the campaign, acknowledged that reversing the board's decision would be difficult, but vowed: "We're not going to go down without a fight."