Permit Issues Plague New Charter School

Excel Academy Is Forced to Divert Students Because of Occupancy Restrictions

About 20 Prince George's students who had planned to attend one of the county's three new charter schools were told over the weekend they must start classes at their neighborhood public school instead, as the county's first experience with privately run, publicly funded schooling got off to an uncertain start.

The students, who had planned to attend Excel Academy, will join classes in progress at other schools because the administrators failed to get county approval to house as many pupils as they had hoped in their converted office building in Beltsville.

Of three new charter schools launched this year in Prince George's, only Turning Point Academy started on time, at the beginning of last week. Potomac Charter School launched three days later.

At Excel Academy, which opened yesterday, administrators had signed up 370 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. After struggling to find space this summer, administrators were told by county inspectors last week that the former office building they had leased could accommodate only 285 students and 15 staff members.

That meant winnowing enrollment by more than 80 students, of whom about 60 then decided to attend other schools. Parents of the others still had hoped to enroll their children at Excel and were angered when told Saturday that there was no space for them, school administrators said. Students who remained at Excel were selected to attend on a first-come, first-served basis.

"It just doesn't seem reasonable to us that you would not allow all the children who registered to attend, while we finish the last little bit of construction we need to do," said Iris T. Metts, the former Prince George's schools chief whose company is consulting for the academy.

Metts, who resigned as head of schools in 2003 after four stormy years, is president and chief executive of A+ Choice Solutions Inc., a private company that advises charter schools in several states, including all three new schools in Prince George's.

More than 20 charter schools have opened in Maryland since state law was changed to allow for them in 2003. Parents who choose the schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, say they can offer more innovative and individualized education because they are freed from bureaucratic red tape.

Advocates for charters acknowledge, however, that the schools often experience rough starts, as private groups work to find classroom space, hire teachers and organize curriculum in short timeframes.

But charter proponents say that code inspectors should make exceptions to rules that don't directly affect students' health and safety.

"Socrates taught students under a tree," said Joni Berman, president of the Maryland Charter School Network. "He wasn't hit with all kinds of zoning laws -- and kids learned."

Metts said she has not been able to figure out how county inspectors decided only 300 people could fit in the building and what exactly Excel could do to expand. As office space, the county allowed more than 1,000 workers in the same building.

Jim Keary, a spokesman for the county, said the permitting issues had to do with hallway width and the number of bathrooms. He said the school still has work to do to convert its temporary permit to a permanent one. County workers have "been working day and night to ensure the school was able to open," he said.

John White, spokesman for the school system, said teachers at local schools will make sure students who had planned to attend the academy transition smoothly to their unexpected classrooms. And he said the school system stands ready to help the charter school.

"It's just a matter of working out the details when you're creating something from scratch," he said.

Meanwhile, parent interest in the school has not waned. Deborah Talley, who moved to the Beltsville area recently, stopped by the school on its first day yesterday to see whether she might want to send her third- and fifth-graders there.

Talley, who home-schools her children, said she was impressed with what she saw -- and added her name to a waiting list.

"When I went in, the teachers were on the money with supervising the children," she said. "We're willing to wait."