Online charter school again faces questions
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – An online charter school that came close to shutting down over allegations that it was failing to educate its 1,800 students, but won a reprieve from the state, is again facing the prospect of losing its charter. The Einstein Academy Charter School will defend itself at a charter revocation hearing later this month against claims that it has not complied with key provisions of a settlement in which the state Education Department dropped a lawsuit against it and released $3.4 million in tuition payments that had been withheld.
The revocation hearing was originally scheduled by the Morrisville Borough School District Board of Education for Tuesday and Wednesday, but has been postponed until July 30 because the school’s lawyer was unable to attend for personal reasons, said Jim Hanak, Einstein’s chief executive officer.
The board decided to begin the revocation process in May, after its attorney presented a report alleging that among other things, the school had failed to set up its administrative offices in the suburban Philadelphia district and was still providing inadequate special education services.
“The responses from a lot of parents have indicated greater satisfaction than there had been, but until I’ve seen evidence on both sides, I can’t judge whether they are complying with the charter,” board President Kenneth Junkins said Monday.
Einstein, the state’s largest cyber charter school, had struggled to deliver computers and textbooks to families on time since it opened in September. An Internet service provider terminated service to the school in March because the school owed it nearly $80,000.
School officials have attributed their financial problems to the refusal of many school districts to pay tuition bills to Einstein, and said those problems were aggravated by Education Secretary Charles Zogby’s decision to withhold additional funding.
Hanak said the school has been working constantly since reaching the March settlement with the Education Department to make sure it is complying with its charter. Among other things, it is in various stages of developing a federally mandated education plan for each of 150 special education students, he said.
“I believe there is a reasonable response to every concern that the Morrisville School District has raised. We look forward to the hearing, to have an opportunity to lay out to the public the answers to all of their concerns,” Hanak said.
Although the school has been able to pay its outstanding bills and hire new teachers and aides with the $3.4 million released by the state on April 5, its cash flow has dried up again because it has not received an estimated $3 million in tuition bills from March through June, Hanak said.
Education Department spokeswoman Beth Gaydos said the school missed an April 24 deadline for submitting its invoices for March and April, so those payments will be delayed. She said the department is processing the school’s March, April and May invoices and reviewing its bill for June.
Einstein parent Sherrie Drayer, whose adopted children, Gregory, 10, and Olivia, 5, receive special education services, said both have flourished thanks to the one-on-one attention she can give them, aided by Einstein teachers.
“I really thought we had Morrisville’s support, so it was very disappointing to me to hear that they were not supporting the school’s survival,” said Drayer, who lives in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia. “It’s been such a godsend for my children.”
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On the Net:
The Einstein Academy Charter School: http://www.einsteinacademycharterschool.org/
Morrisville Borough School District: http://www.mv.org
Pennsylvania Department of Education: http://www.pde.state.pa.us