Camden charter to be managed by N.Y. network

When Freedom Academy Charter School was put on state probation last year - its charter was in jeopardy because of poor academic results - it hired a New York charter management organization as an academic consultant while continuing a partnership with a local group to oversee its finances.

Eventually, both of those groups submitted bids to run the troubled Camden school as it came up for a five-year charter renewal this year.

On Thursday, the state Department of Education renewed Freedom Academy's charter after asking for and receiving a management agreement between Freedom and Democracy Prep Public Schools, the New York charter school network that recently received a $9 million federal grant to expand its footprint.

The choice, however, was shrouded last week in a fog of confusion.

Freedom Academy's board initially chose the local group, Foundations Inc. of Mount Laurel, to run the school.

Foundations was the lowest responsible bidder for the management contract at the grade 5-8 school, board president Keisha Usher-Martin said. It came in at less than half of Democracy Prep's $585,000 bid.

But then "there was an uproar within the school and the state" over the choice of Foundations, she said.

"Then Foundations withdrew its bid," Usher-Martin said, adding that the board was left with no option but to hire Democracy Prep. She called it a "touchy subject."

Foundations spokesman John Henderson said "there was misinformation given to teachers that the school was going to close if Democracy Prep didn't come in."

"We want to work in an environment that doesn't have any of that going on," he said. "It was already too hot for us and too many unknowns for us."

State officials said that the school's renewal application was full of references to Democracy Prep's running the school in 2013-14 and that that's what it was basing its renewal decision on.

"When the board informed us they might choose a different provider, we expressed our concern that this did not satisfy their renewal application, did not address the academic deficiencies that exist in the school," Department of Education spokeswoman Barbara Morgan said.

In February, the state demanded that if Freedom Academy wanted to have its charter renewed, it had to provide a signed contract with Democracy Prep for charter management services.

Officials from Foundations and Democracy Prep said they were well-qualified to run the charter, citing their experience at other such schools needing a turnaround - Democracy in New York and Foundations in Pennsylvania. Both also cited their consulting work in helping Freedom improve its operations.

"We felt comfortable putting our hat in the ring," Foundations' Henderson said, adding that his group already operates City Invincible Charter School, which it opened in South Camden in the fall.

Katie Duffy, recently named CEO at Democracy Prep, said: "We were excited about the prospect . . . to bring our mission to Camden."

Freedom Academy emerged from a previous probation two years ago. Its most recent troubles began last May, when its academic performance fell to the bottom 3 percent of schools in the state. It was listed as a "priority school" under the state's new accountability system, along with 23 of the 26 Camden district schools.

"We brought in Democracy Prep knowing of their work in New York," Usher-Martin said.

But Democracy Prep's methods gave some pause. It brought in its own school leaders, which some on the board said was inappropriate because they were not certified as principals in New Jersey.

"They were conducting one-on-one interviews with all teachers without approval of the board," said Maurice Suggs, a former teacher at Freedom Academy who was appointed to the board of trustees in May. "The whole situation was shady from the beginning."

Suggs was voted off the board in August, along with Nilsa Gonzalez, a parent who also had raised questions.

The board "initially accepted" the Foundations proposal because, although it and Democracy Prep had similar plans, Foundations' management fee was far smaller, Usher-Martin said - $250,000.

But the state pointed out that Freedom's charter-renewal application was explicit in stating that Democracy Prep would run the school. The first paragraph in the renewal application says:

"The Freedom Academy board of trustees has expressed a desire for [Freedom Academy Charter School] to [become one of the] model schools in the [Democracy Prep Public Schools] network in 2013-14 and to begin operating under the name 'Freedom Prep Charter School.' "

Freedom's renewal application was filed in October, a month after Democracy Prep received the federal grant to expand in New York and enter New Jersey.

Democracy Prep is one of only two charter school organizations nationwide to receive such an award from the U.S. Department of Education. The KIPP Foundation is the other.

Democracy Prep will open or expand 15 schools over the next five years, serving about 4,000 new students in New York and New Jersey, the U.S. Department of Education announced in September.

With a $23 million grant, KIPP is to open or expand 36 schools in 25 cities around the country over the next four years.

KIPP already has approval for a charterlike renaissance school in Camden.