Dec. 13 Public Hearing Recap

RECAP OF PUBLIC HEARING HELD ON DECEMBER 13, 2011

On Tuesday, December 13^th, we had our second public hearing on the charter-school application, where the school district presented their findings on the application.  Topics raised by Chester Upland School District (CUSD) representatives included curriculum, special education, finances/budget, technology, and Grade 7 through 12 design.  TCF attorneys had the opportunity to ask questions of each CUSD presenter in order to clarify and/or challenge the district’s findings.  School-board members and attorneys for the district, in turn, posed questions of TCF representatives.

Our attorneys also asked John Alston to answer a list of questions on the topics of critical-thinking skills, value of the arts in general, value of jazz in particular as a project theme, foreign language at an early age, and instructional technology.

In addition, TCF submitted a number of new exhibits for the record:

1. TCF has now raised $437,000 for the charter school (some are written and verbal pledges, others are strong projections based on past history, e.g. TCF board donations)
2. There are now 263 children “pre-enrolled” at Chester Charter School for the Arts (CCSA), which is 82% of first-year enrollment, and more are coming in every day.
3. TCF created a chart showing comparisons between CUSA this year and CCSA next year. (See below.)
4. TCF attorneys submitted special-education data showing that the projection of 14% special-education students at CCSA is a conservative estimate based on school-district and state percentages.

Brendan Kelley from Buccini/Pollin, and Colin Flynn from The Flynn Company, addressed questions about the proposed CCSA facility at 200 Commerce Drive in Aston, PA (currently the Village School at Chester Upland), including rental costs projected for different portions of the building, and which items were staying with the building (e.g. cafeteria equipment, playground equipment, lockers, technology infrastructure).

TCF’s charter-application consultant addressed a number of the findings raised by the school district, pointing to specific pages in the application where the district questions were discussed.  These topics/issues included:  technology, special education, student assessments, and teacher salaries.

An attorney for the school board asked whether CCSA would permit a union, given that our primary reason for ending the partnership was losing most of our staff members during the summer furloughs, due to their lack of seniority.  In response, TCF’s charter-application consultant stated that while teachers have a right to organize, there are over 150 charter schools in Pennsylvania and only a handful are unionized.  Charter teachers generally have positive working conditions and rarely feel the need for a union.

A few residents offered public comment.  Several supported the application, and several did not.  The two major concerns were:  duplication (two arts schools since the school district maintains that CUSA will be open next year), and the financial impact on the district of another charter school. Supporters of the charter school cited John Alston’s ongoing commitment to Chester’s children and his efforts to provide them with a superior education

Because TCF would like an opportunity to respond in more detail to some of the findings, there will be a third hearing in January. The date has tentatively been set for January 12 at 7:00 PM. We encourage you to lend your support to the charter application by attending this meeting.

Chester Charter School for the Arts

Comparison