Application for Charter School Withdrawn After Three Hours of District Questions

Like a boxer beaten into submission, a Bucks County businessman withdrew his application for a charter school after about three hours of a hearing Wednesday before the .

The harshest blow came after district business director Jack Myers cited a "dramatic overstatement of revenues and understatement of employee benefit costs" and asked founder James Jones if it's possible his budget would not balance.

Jones—owner of a Langhorne human resources firm and a 2010 Congressional candidate—acknowledged the budget might not work and immediately asked for the withdrawal. He said after the hearing that he plans to reapply for a charter at a later date.

Earlier, the school board had recessed into a closed meeting for about 30 minutes to decide if it would even accept the application after learning Jones had changed the potential management company for the Bensalem Entreprenuerial Charter School. Board attorney Tom Profy IV emerged from that executive session and said the board would decide later on that issue.

Jones' application named American Paradigm but he said he recently switched to the Ogontz Avenue Redevlopment Corp., which runs the West Oak Lane Charter School in Philadelphia.

Upon questioning from board member Elizabeth Cerasi, Jones said American Paradigm pointed out a conflict of interest in its role as a consultant to another charter school applicant set to appear before the board later this month.

Board members and administrators had a long list of questions, some of which related to the management switch.

"West Oak Lane is a K-8 school. You're proposing to operate, basically, a secondary educational facility," said Superintendent David Baugh. "How would West Oak Lane be able to provide you with the professional development you and your staff will need? This is well outside their area of expertise."

John Kitchen, president and CEO of Ogontz Avenue Redevlopment Corp. and founder of West Oak Lane Charter School, said his organization believes charter schools must be run as businesses producing a product, "a highly educated child."

"It doesn't matter to me whether it's a K-8 school or a high school," he said. "You hire a CEO to produce that product for you, according to that [business] model, and you will have a successful school."

Mr. Kitchen said he came upon Mr. Jones two to three weeks ago as Jones was seeking petition signatures outside a grocery store. Upon further questioning from Baugh, Jones and Kitchen said that while Ogontz Avenue Redevlopment Corp. is helping in securing a site, there is no formal contract between the two for educational services.

"At this time we don't have a curriculum for the school. Is that correct?" Baugh asked.

"I have developed a curriculum independently for the school," Jones responded.

But when asked to share it, Jones said he hadn't brought it with him.

Baugh said the district reached out to people described as supporters in the application and they did not reply or "fervently denied their support." After the hearing he said the denials came from state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson and state Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis.

Jones simply pointed to letters of support from Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo and Bucks County Commissioner Charlie Martin. Responding to Baugh, he said he didn't know if any of the supporters are aware of the management change.

Jones' application called for a year-round, grade 8-12 school that would "create students who think, talk and act like CEOs" and utilize mentors and internships. Jones predicted a first-year enrollment of 375, growing to 1075 in year five, and he planned to hire 21 teachers.

Jones was planning a September opening date at one of five sites or within district facilities. The potential sites: 3330 Tillman Dr., which is the former site of the ITT Technical school; the closed Armstrong school; the closed Our Lady of Fatima church; Horizon Corporate Center; and Expressway 95 Business Center on Progress Drive.

Kitchen said the Tillman Drive site is preferred because it is "walk-in ready."

The former ITT building also has been named as the potential site for a proposed expansion of the School Lane Charter School, whose hearing was held last month.

Board member Ralph Douglass criticized the applicant for not having a sales or lease agreement for a site nor a specific time line of activity.

"In some cases, we have the court before the horse," he said.

Jones said he has a formal offer from the owner of the Tillman Drive site.

Myers pointed out problems with the school calendar and discrepancies with the length of the school day. He also asked why the proposed budget includes 65 percent pension reimbursement from the state.

"That may be the case in Philadelphia; not here," Myers said. "It's 50 percent here and may be reduced."

Soon after, Myers asked about the overall viability of the budget, and Jones requested the withdrawal.

The school board has two more charter school applications this month. On Dec. 13, it will hear a proposal for the K-12 Bucks Academy Charter School. On Dec. 19, it will be the K-12 Isaac Newton Academy Charter School, which is modeled after the successful MaSt Charter School in Northeast Philadelphia.

Representatives from MaST attended Wednesday's hearing.

Mayor DiGirolamo also has sent a letter of support for their proposal.

The board has 75 days from the date of hearings to render decisions. Rejections can be appealed to the state.