Philly's Del Val Charter school could close in June

Nearly 500 students who attend Delaware Valley Charter High School in Logan may have to start looking for new schools for the fall.

The troubled charter school lost its bid to remain open when the state Charter Appeal Board voted, 6-0, last week to uphold a decision of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, which said the school did not merit renewal due to fiscal management problems and poor academic performance. State Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera, who chairs the appeals board, ordered the school to close by June 30.

But Delaware Valley, at 5201 Old York Rd., has not given up its fight.

Harold Kurtz, the school's acting CEO, said the school is considering asking the SRC to allow it to remain open for a year to show that test scores and finances can improve.

"Why not give us a year?" asked Kurtz, who became CEO in August 2015 — two months after the SRC turned down the school's request for a new charter. "They really are focused on what happened between 2010 and 2014, with no credit that we have done a pretty masterful job trying to engineer a turnaround."

He added: "Why not sit down and develop a one-year school-improvement plan?"

But it is not clear whether the SRC has the authority to set aside an order signed by Rivera.

A district spokesman said the appeals board had ordered Delaware Valley to close and noted that state law says the school's avenue of appeal lies with Commonwealth Court.

"Unless the charter school appeals the decision to the Commonwealth Court and the court grants a stay of the order, the School District expects that the school will comply with the decision and close by June 30, 2017," Lee Whack, a spokesman, said Thursday.

District officials said they have been in contact with the charter's principal, and are sending letters to Delaware Valley students and their parents explaining the process of transferring to district schools in the fall.

"The School District is prepped and ready to receive the children for placement in schools," said Kevin Geary, the district's chief of external relations. "It will remain a priority to help these families."

The school, which opened in 2000, has 610 students on its rolls. Approximately 140 seniors are expected to graduate next month.

Even though Delaware Valley could take its case to Commonwealth Court, Kurtz said that was unlikely. He said a court battle would be costly and the records review would probably focus on the period before changes at Delaware Valley were made.