Charter still faces state 'questions'

Four weeks before its scheduled opening bell, the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School is still facing a brace of uncertainties.

The first, a possible administrative stop sign based on readiness criteria in an opening procedures state checklist, could be resolved by the end of this week.

The organizers of the alternative school, which has sparked a fierce clash of loyalties and philosophies — within the existing district school system and its leaders and stakeholders and against the new kids on the block — have delivered to Mitchell D. Chester, the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, an incomplete status report for his review by the soft Aug. 1 deadline.

"We do have a number of questions," Chester's spokesperson, J.C. Considine, said Monday. "We will let the school and district know ... whether there are significant concerns at this point."

"This is the process every charter school goes through," Considine added. "These are not hard deadlines, but they are important deadlines. We want to make sure (charter school officials) are ready to open.

"Depending on the facts of an individual case, the commissioner does have the authority to delay the opening of a school," Considine said.

Mayor Carolyn Kirk, who also sits on the city's School Committee, said she understands "a definitive decision has to be rendered by the commissioner prior to the opening."

Her effort to broker a compromise that would accommodate the efforts of the charter organizers to create an innovative school within the district, but without the state charter, collapsed last week.

So, Kirk said, it will be "a race to the finish" with uncertainty facing all parties — the charter innovators, the school committee, the district schools and the public school population, not to mention the commissioner and governor.

"We're in wait-and-see mode," the mayor said.

Val Gilman, chairwoman of the School Committee, said Monday she believes the commissioner has an obligation to "conduct a site visit" before making a final decision on the readiness of school organizers to open.

The second uncertainty is legal, but also centers on the commissioner.

A courtroom showdown with parents of public school students is shaping up through an Aug. 19 hearing on the lawsuit filed by 15 city school parents. That's less than two weeks before the charter and the district's public schools open at the end of the month.

The suit claims the school has a tainted charter due to improper political influence on Chester and then by Chester on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which voted to grant the charter.

Late Monday, the 15 parent-plaintiffs filed their response to the argument against granting of a preliminary injunction by the commissioner and the charter school board, They, in turn, argued last week that the courts could not review the decision to approve a charter school and that, by suing so late in the process, the plaintiffs would do the charter school interests to "irreparable harm."

The plaintiffs' reply reiterates arguments made last month in the original filing that the state circumvented its own professional standards for winning a charter when Gov. Deval Patrick's secretary of education pressured Chester to get the board to give the OK to the applicants from Gloucester, an interpretation of facts affirmed by the state inspector general.

Newburyport Superior Court Judge Richard Welch hears oral arguments on Thursday, Aug. 19, at 2 p.m. He could offer a ruling on the spot, but more likely will take the matter under advisement.

"Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the underlying litigation," attorney Thaddeus A. Heuer wrote for the charter organizers, "a preliminary injunction would be a death knell for the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School and would undermine the stability of charter schools across the commonwealth."

The charter school is projected to have about 90 students for the opening term. Charter school officials could not be reached Monday for comment.

The plaintiffs' reply argued that they — and other public school parents — would suffer from the need to close an elementary school, increase class sizes and endure other disruptions and cutbacks over the long haul if the charter school is allowed to open.

The School Committee meets Thursday to sort through some of the uncertainty — notably in the vague transportation plan of the charter organizers. Transportation, along with a number of other elements essential to creating an independent public school — as charter schools are in Massachusetts — is one of the unresolved problems in the opening procedures "check list" submitted to Chester, officials said.

The July 6 status report from the Gloucester charter organizers to the commissioner said that "discussions are ongoing with transportation staff at the Gloucester public schools."

Although Considine did not provide details on the status of the readiness of the charter school, the July 6 report, the latest available, indicated a number of elements remained incomplete. These include financial organization, a school health plan, relationship with a physician and nurse and the special education plan.

Building inspector William Sanborn said the charter organizers are ready to install modular classrooms, which are now on site at the entrance to the Blackburn Industrial Park location where the Cape Ann Medical Center had stood before moving across the street.

The charter school "is ready for construction to bring them in and put them in place," said Sanborn.

The organizers will need a variety of permits, for elements including engineering, plumbing and fire safety before getting an occupancy permit.

"It's doable by the end of the month, if they really push," Sanborn said.

Richard Gaines can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3464, or rgaines@gloucestertimes.com.

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Incomplete checklist, lawsuit hover as school opening nears

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