SRC delays vote on New Media Technology charter

Questions about academics and allegations of financial mismanagement at the New Media Technology Charter School prompted the Philadelphia School Reform Commission to postpone a vote yesterday on renewing the school's operating charter.

School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said after the commission's meeting that she and her staff had asked the commissioners to wait on voting.

"We wanted to do some more due diligence," Ackerman said. "There have been some concerns raised, and we want to make sure that we're clear about the resolution of some of those claims. Again, we needed time, since some of those things have come up in the last few days."

Commissioner Heidi Ramirez said she was not ready to decide whether New Media deserved a charter renewal.

"There are lots of questions still," Ramirez said. "So we're looking for some more information to make the best choice."

Commission members Denise McGregor Armbrister and Johnny Irizarry voted with Ramirez. Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr., whose wife, Shirley, served on New Media's board earlier this school year, announced that he had opted not to participate in the vote.

In public comments urging the SRC to renew the school's charter, Hugh C. Clark, New Media's board president, defended his school. He said reports about the school were "riddled with avoidable misinformation and unsubstantiated innuendo." He declined to comment on the vote.

As The Inquirer has reported, the school district's inspector general is investigating New Media's finances, including allegations that taxpayer money was used to pay expenses for a Mount Airy restaurant operated by Clark and Ina Walker, the school's chief executive officer.

Walker and Clark have denied the allegations.

New Media is also under fire from many parents and former teachers, who say the school has failed to fulfill promises to provide textbooks, computers, and supplies.

Despite the inspector general's probe, the district's top charter officials last week recommended awarding the school a new five-year operating agreement - with a long list of academic and management conditions.

Clark, who addressed the commission before the members voted to delay, had urged the commission to grant the charter with the conditions because they addressed all the concerns uncovered during the renewal process.

"Time will not permit me to respond to all the unfavorable impressions and allegations that have been presented in the media and before this commission," Clark said.

Clark was joined in support of the school by four parents and a teacher.

While members of the senior class stood and held signs naming the colleges they plan to attend, teacher Albert Greene described the school "as a fine institution" that provides a safe environment for students.

Greene, who has been teaching at New Media since it opened in 2004, "implored" the SRC to renew the charter. "The kids need it," he said. "The community needs it. The city needs it."

But Irene Harris Bowie, whose grandson is a fifth grader at the school, said the school should be closed because the children are not receiving the education they had been promised.

"They held our children's futures in their hands and they failed," Bowie said.

"Last week, many parents came here to testify about their problems with New Media," she said, referring to the May 13 meeting.

Since then, Bowie said, she had been contacted by other parents, many of whom had wanted to testify yesterday but had been "shut out." The district limit is six speakers on any one topic and the New Media supporters had already taken the spots.

Bowie said she was submitting those parents' letters and was speaking "on behalf of a large and growing group of parents who are fed up and frustrated. On behalf of us, hold New Media accountable and do not renew their charter."

The commission did not set a date for considering New Media's charter renewal.

The Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School was the only charter to win a five-year renewal without conditions.

Seven other charters were renewed for five years provided they meet academic and management conditions: Ad Prima, Franklin Towne Charter High, Global Leadership Academy, Khepera, Mariana Bracetti Academy, New Foundations, and Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter High.

Ad Prima, Franklin Towne and Khepera are required to show by Aug. 1 that their boards have adopted detailed internal financial control policies that satisfy the district's audit office.

Philadelphia Montessori Charter School was granted a one-year renewal to give the school additional time to improve test scores.

Inquirer staff writer Kristen A. Graham contributed to this article.