Graystone Academy wants charter reinstated while it appeals revocation
Updated at 7:30 p.m. to include link to Pa. Charter School Appeals Board’s decision
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court has scheduled argument in the long-running case involving Graystone Academy Charter School on Tuesday.
As promised, the charter school appealed the July 30 ruling by the Pennsylvania Charter School Appeals Board, a decision that upheld the Coatesville Area School District’s November 2011 decision to revoke Graystone’s charter. The charter school also submitted an emergency petition to stay the revocation pending the appeal, setting up a telephone conference on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. from the chambers of a designated judge from Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg.
Brian Leinhauser, the solicitor for the charter school, has said the school strongly disagreed with the findings of both the school district and the appeals board. He said he was hoping for quick action by the Commonwealth Court so that classes could resume on time for the school’s 272 students. The school cannot open without a charter.
James Ellison, the Coatesville district solicitor, has said that the district, which has paid about $5 million a year in tuition subsidies to Graystone, has been trying to close the school for several years because it repeatedly failed to provide the education it promised, a conclusion that the appeals board affirmed in a detailed, 61-page report.
According to court records, both sides have until 4 p.m. on Monday to submit any responses. To read the Pennsylvania Charter School Appeals Board’s decision, visit http://www.coatesville.k12.pa.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/CAB%20GraystoneOp%208-2-13.pdf.
