Chesco charter loses fight to remain open

A Coatesville-area charter school lost a last-ditch attempt to stay open Thursday after a Commonwealth Court judge declined to stay the revocation of its charter.

The Coatesville Area School District says it will accept Graystone Academy's 200 students into district schools when they return to classes Aug. 26.

The school's troubles began in 2010, when the district undertook a comprehensive review of the then-eight-year-old charter school.

District representatives said students were not meeting state testing standards - and contended that the school was changing its curriculum without approval from the district.

Graystone officials have countered that their charter did not require them to notify the district about curriculum changes.

After a series of hearings in 2011, the district voted to revoke Graystone's charter. The school appealed, allowing it to remain open while the state Charter Appeals Board considered the case. This month, the board upheld the district's decision to revoke Graystone's charter.

The school appealed almost immediately, asking a Commonwealth Court judge to stay the revocation.

In his ruling, issued late Thursday, Commonwealth Court Judge Robert E. Simpson Jr. said Graystone's students would be harmed by relocating to new schools with "little time for adjustment." But, Simpson ruled, that wasn't enough to keep the school open.

The school could not show that its argument to stay open would prevail in court, he said. And the district argued that keeping students in an underperforming school would also harm them, according to the ruling.

Graystone officials did not return calls for comment.

District officials said the ruling would force the charter school to close immediately, and that the district would contact current students about the ruling.

"Coatesville Area School District will work diligently with them to ensure that each student is timely enrolled and appropriately placed for the 2013-14 school year," the district said in a statement.

It said it would welcome Graystone students "with open arms" in the fall.