Update: Charter School Application Rejected

Providing a laundry list of criticisms and citing a lack of trust, the school board Monday night rejected an application for a proposed charter school.

The Bensalem Keystone Academy Charter School was defeated on a 5-1 vote, with Yagnesh Choksi asking his colleagues to give the applicants more time to address concerns. Board President Heather Nicholas said the board, which had held a hearing over two previous meetings, was obligated by state law to make a prompt decision.

Among the board's criticisms were budget deficiencies; failure to demonstrate sustainable community support; and a lack of educational experience among school founders. They also said several “factual discrepancies” in the application had left them with a lack of trust.

“Although the misinformation is unfortunate, it merely presents a lack of trust on my part and makes me wonder how much time and planning was actually put into this application,” said Nicholas.

But, she added, of more concern was the founders' lack of evidence that it could administer the International Baccalaureate Organization program.

The ten-page resolution approved by the board was comprised of 23 findings to support the rejection. They included the board's belief that none of the school founders had any experience with the IBO program nor any experience with K-12 administration or teaching. The board also said there was no evidence the founders had contacted the IBO organization.

While there was plenty of information supporting the IBO implementation at the secondary level, the board said the K-8 plan was lacking.

The board also criticized the founders for misrepresenting support from the community including never providing promised letters of support from local elected officials.

Budget deficiencies cited by the board included “grossly inadequate” funding for employee medical insurance and outdated figures for pension funding.

The Keystone Academy would be the second charter school in Bensalem, with School Lane Charter School already in operation. The proposed school is planned for the Metropolitan Industrial Center in Trevose, and the board said the founders provided no evidence that they had applied to the township for a special exception and/or variances needed to use the location for a school.

Some of the founders attended Wednesday's meeting but did not speak until afterward.

Leader Ark Libkind said his next step is to talk to his lawyer and consultants. The founders have the option of appealing the decision to the state Department of Education.

Libkind, director of a former law enforcement academy in Philadelphia, also said he thinks some of the founders had the requisite school system experience but added, “Why does a president need to be a lawyer? Why not a cowboy?”

As for the board's claim that the application contained “erroneous and unreliable misinformation,” he said, “I don't think there was any lying here but there might have been mistakes.”

He also claimed the founders had provided requested information to address concerns as late as Tuesday morning.

The founders and their consultants previously contended they were not required to offer details before approval. Project attorney Joshua Pollak had cited case law before the state Charter School Appeals Board in supporting his position that all the applicants needed to demonstrate is sustainable support for the school along with a description of the facility, which includes its address, land ownership and any lease arrangements.

The founders said earlier this month that more than 300 members of the community support the project and that 300 students had pre-enrolled. More than a dozen area residents expressed their support during a Feb. 9 hearing but few gave any specific reasons.

A project consultant previously said the founders' goal was to become an IBO-certified school but that schools can utilize the program without such certification. Libkind previously explained that the school curriculum would feature such curricula as world languages and cultures, international studies, media communications and homeland security.

Before Wednesday's vote, a statement from board member Chester Marshall was read, in which he said he would have voted to reject if he could have attended the meeting.
"Not only has trust not been established, a level of distrust has developed," he wrote.