Totalitarian Pennsylvania Update #3.

Harrisburg Patriot-News: Ronald Brown charter school to close
Harrisburg judge's decision leaves 400 students looking for options.

After six years as an alternative to the Harrisburg School District, the Ronald H. Brown Charter School is closing immediately in the wake of a court decision that left it with no funding.

"It's just sad," said Michael Stewart, personnel chairman of Ron Brown's board of trustees. "We were about educating the kids. We had the dress code, the discipline. I know we did a better job than Harrisburg. It brings me to tears."

Charter school officials said its 45-member staff, including 30 teachers, were informed yesterday afternoon of the closing, then placed on furlough.
Fliers were being prepared to notify families of the school's 400 students that Ron Brown would not be opening Monday.

Officials also were planning meetings to inform parents of options, including parochial, private and other charter schools.

"We're going to end up with a lot of disappointed students and parents," predicted Ron Brown attorney David Lanza. "They are going to have to go back to an environment they were trying to get away from in the first place."

Most students likely will return to their home school districts, with Harrisburg standing to gain the most, as many as 240 children in grades kindergarten through eighth.

Harrisburg Superintendent Gerald Kohn said the 10,000-student city school system is ready to welcome back Ron Brown students.

"We've been planning for this for a year now," said Kohn, referring to last September, when the district first denied Ron Brown's charter. "We assure all Ron Brown parents and students that we can accommodate them in their local neighborhood schools."

Harrisburg begins classes Sept. 5.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Ron Brown and its uphill legal battle, the charter school continued registering students, and parents remained willing to sign up their children.

CEO and Principal Rae Talley reported enrollment was up by almost 50 students from last year's 343. Contacted yesterday, she declined comment about what she would tell those parents now.

"Right now, I am dealing with my staff," she said.

While parents and grandparents such as Rosetta White were willing to try Ron Brown, many remained wary.

White said her family favored the charter school for her 5-year-old granddaughter, saying Harrisburg's Camp Curtin School was too large.

But White said she directed her daughter to save all the receipts for the uniforms the kindergartner would have to wear at Ron Brown. Even before yesterday's court ruling, White said she advised her family to begin thinking of backup plans, despite repeated assurances from charter school officials.

"Kids at that age are so excited about school. But you can't plan for school like this," White said.

The uncertainty surrounding Ron Brown began last school year, when the Harrisburg District declined to renew its five-year charter, citing financial, academic and staffing inadequacies.

The decision was upheld in May by the state Charter School Appeals Board.

Yesterday's ruling by Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini denied the charter school's request for a stay of the board's decision, leaving Ron Brown without a charter and no right to funding from the school district, which paid it $3 million annually.

Pellegrini ruled that the board's 3-0 vote denying Ron Brown's appeal was sufficient and binding, as it represented a quorum of the five members seated.

He rejected the charter school's claims that the board needed at least four votes of the full seven members outlined in the state charter school statute.

Charter schools are self-managed public schools that must be authorized by their host districts, usually for terms of five years.

While Pellegrini's decision denied Ron Brown immediate relief, its overall appeal of the board's ruling remains alive, and officials say they'll pursue it. Stewart said Ron Brown would continue as a nonprofit organization and would reopen if it triumphs in court.

"We're not going to let it rest," he said. "We think the children in the district deserve better."

Meanwhile, Harrisburg is gearing for an influx of students at its 11 neighborhood schools. With 300 classrooms in those schools, the additional students would amount to less than one student per class, Kohn said.