HARRISBURG - The Philadelphia School District yesterday won the right to close Germantown Settlement Charter School, but the district left open the possibility that it might wait until June to shut down the troubled middle school.
In a statement released last night, district officials said they would work with the state, the charter's board of trustees, "and with parents to begin a process leading to the orderly closing of Germantown Settlement Charter School. It is our expectation that the process to close the school will be completed by the end of the school year in June 2009."
The action would be the first forced closing of a Philadelphia charter school since charters arrived in the city in 1997.
The district has a "thoughtful plan" to close the middle school with two campuses in Germantown, Cathy Balsey, executive director of the district's Office of Charter Schools, said yesterday.
She made her comments after the state Charter Appeal Board agreed with the district that Germantown Settlement Charter had failed to file a timely appeal of the decision in October by the School Reform Commission to decline to give it a new, five-year operating charter. At the time, the SRC said that Germantown had failed to abide by the conditions of its charter; was plagued by fiscal mismanagement; had a history of poor academic performance; and failed to meet the state requirements that charters submit timely annual reports and have at least 75 percent of teachers certified.
"I'm really disappointed," Cornelia Swinson, acting president of the charter school's board, said after the state board voted 6-0 not to hear the charter's appeal.
Swinson said she would talk to other board members and the school's attorney, Steven X. Schwenk, before deciding whether to appeal the board's decision to Commonwealth Court. Such an appeal would not delay the closing.
District spokeswoman Barbara Farley said last night that the district would meet with Germantown Settlement parents next week to discuss the state board's decision and the educational options available for their children. Letters will be sent to all parents later this week.
Farley said the district also would work with the parents "to ensure the successful transition of all students currently enrolled in the school to new schools for the next school year."
It was unclear how many students remained at the charter, set up as a middle school for fifth through eighth graders.
Swinson said she was not sure how many students were on the rolls.
District officials said there appeared to be far fewer than the 440 students the school enrolled in the fall.
Since September, more than 17 teachers and administrators - including the principal - have quit Germantown. Last month, parents of some special-education students told the state Department of Education that the exodus of staff and a lack of services had created an educational emergency for students.
Members of the state charter appeal board cast their votes yesterday after listening to short presentations from the school district and the charter school.
Attorney Allison S. Peterson, who represented the district, maintained that Germantown had forfeited its right to present an appeal because it had not filed required documents until more than 90 days after the state deadline.
Schwenk argued that Germantown still had a right to present its case for remaining open.
But with its vote, the state board declined to hear Germantown's appeal.
The state board yesterday also heard an appeal from Renaissance Charter School in Mount Airy, which argued that it was entitled to remain open.
"Renaissance Charter," said attorney Jane Shields, "is doing well. Its children enjoy it. Its children are improving. . . . It has taken great strides in its management."
The state board is expected to vote on Renaissance's fate next month. In the meantime, Renaissance will be allowed to remain open. Renaissance reportedly had 212 sixth through eighth graders in the fall.
Both Germantown Settlement Charter and Renaissance opened in 1999 and had their charters renewed in 2003.
Germantown Settlement has campuses at 4811 Germantown Ave. and 5538 Wayne Ave. Renaissance is at 7500 Germantown Ave.
The School Reform Commission said that Renaissance's charter did not merit renewal because of the school's financial management problems; its repeated failure to submit required annual financial audits; a history of low student test scores; failure to have at least 75 percent certified teachers; and failure to focus on science, technology, and the arts as promised in its charter.
In addition to its charter problems, Germantown has to deal with investigations by the school district's Inspector General's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Both are looking into whether charter-school funds were diverted to prop up other entities related to its parent organization, Germantown Settlement, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.