Charter School Gets a Reprieve
State Board Seeks New Information

By Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 6, 2008

Usually when the Maryland Board of Education reviews a charter school application that has been rejected at the county level, the state panel does one of two things: rejects it again or grants permission for the school to open.

But last week the board did something a little different as members looked over an application for the Bay Arts and Sciences Public Charter School in Calvert County. The proposal had been voted down unanimously by the county school board in September.

Instead of giving a thumbs up or down, the state panel ordered the local board to work with the charter school founders to resolve three deficiencies and then report back in late April.

"The State Board acknowledges that this Order is unusual," the board wrote in the Feb. 26 opinion, "but we find that this is an unusual case because, unlike most charter school applications, the application here appeared thorough and well-developed."

The board briefly addressed three shortcomings in the application:

¿ Plans for curriculum and how it will align with the Voluntary State Curriculum, which spells out what students should know at each grade level.

¿ Budget matters, particularly defining what a 2 percent administrative fee paid to the school system will cover. Sometimes charter schools have to pay a larger fee to account for services such as special education and bus transportation, said Karen S. Mittelman, who chairs the charter school's founding board.

¿ Availability of a temporary facility until a permanent school can be built.

The state board's decision surprised both sides of the approval process in Calvert. The charter school's backers celebrated what they consider a victory in their years-long quest to open the school. The county school board scheduled a meeting today with its general counsel.

"It's a rather odd order. It's not one anyone has ever seen before," said Dario Agnolutto, general counsel to the Calvert board. "I'm in the process of sorting it out. I've been talking to a lot of people. . . . I have no idea what we're going to do yet."

If the proposed charter school's application is approved, the school could open in a temporary location as early as fall 2009 for about 110 students in grades 6 through 8, Mittelman said. During the second semester, classes would move to a modular-style "green" facility on 15 acres of wooded property in Prince Frederick.

The proposed curriculum at the school would emphasize environmental studies and hands-on learning experiences, such as digging for artifacts at Jefferson Patterson Park or analyzing water samples from the Patuxent River, she said.

"Our approach is very different," Mittelman said. "Since it's so innovative, it might need some more explanation.

"We're just thrilled they saw the quality of our application," she said of the state panel's action.

At a Sept. 20 Calvert County Board of Education meeting, members voted against the application for the charter school, the first of its kind in the county. Southern Maryland's first charter school, Chesapeake Public Charter, opened this academic year in St. Mary's County and has about 160 students.

Calvert school board members say their vote was based on a recommendation from Superintendent Jack R. Smith, who said at the time that the application lacked a clear business plan, a temporary or permanent facility, and a plan for how to attract students from throughout the county.