Charter School Application Denied

The West Chester Area School Board has rejected the application of a charter school that focuses on students with learning disorders, the Daily Local News is reporting.

According to the paper, the district received Whole Life Charter School’s application on Nov. 15, then held a pair of hearings on Dec. 17 and Feb. 4 to discuss the proposal. Ultimately, the charter’s bid to educate West Chester students was rejected by a unanimous vote on Monday at Stetson Middle School.

The district’s concern, reportedly, was stability. According to district business affairs director Suzanne Moore, Whole Life would have had a $1.5 million deficit in year one, and the figure would balloon to $9.6 million by year five.

“We find the best opportunity for success takes place in the classroom with strong curriculum and assessments, aligned with that curriculum, quality staff development for teachers as well as school leaders in a financially solid system to support student achievement,” West Chester superintendent Jim Scanlon told the paper. “We don’t believe that this charter application would have accomplished that.”

Downingtown also rejected the charter’s application.

But according to Whole Life’s website, the charter hasn't given up yet. The school is appealing the decisions and proceeding as though it will be affiliated with both districts in the fall of 2013.

We are appealing the recent denial of our charter application by the West Chester and Downingtown Area School Districts and are continuing to work for a September 2013 opening. If you are interested in submitting an enrollment interest form for your child, do so. We will continue to host all scheduled Parent Information Sessions and interviews. Information on our next Parent Information Session is at the top of the next column. If you have any questions regarding our school please do not hesitate to contact us.

Read the full story here.