Charter school will mediate legal troubles
9 months after suit filed, judge punts motions for summary judgment
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

RED BANK - Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Quinn has dismissed motions on both sides of the lawsuit brought against the Red Bank Charter School by Patock Construction, and has suggested mediation in the case.

Nancy Bunn, a member of the charter school's board of trustees, announced Quinn's decision at last week's board meeting, adding that the type of mediation, or who will act as mediator, is not yet known.

Patock Construction performed work on the school building in 2003 and 2004, when the charter school expanded from a school with grades four to eight to include kindergarten through third grade.

In order to make room for the new grades, the charter school, which was housed in the historic Century House, moved the Century House to Oakland Street location, renovated it and had a connection built between it and the existing Oakland Street Restaurant.

The final cost of the work amounted to more than $2.2 million, and Patock has been paid about $1.73 million, which includes a $1.69 million payment made by the Red Bank Charter School Foundation, the school's main fundraising entity, and a $45,000 payment made by the school.

According to the complaint filed last month with the Monmouth County Superior Court Law Division, Patock Construction is requesting that the school and foundation pay the remaining money owed, plus interest, costs and attorney's fees.

As a way of resolving the debt, the complaint requested that as a part of the judgment the Oakland Street property be sold, and that money from the sale be used to pay the remaining portion of the bill.

Short Term Money also recently filed suit against the charter school for repayment of the loans made to the charter school foundation.

Short Term Money's suit against the school was filed on April 21 and calls for the repayment of both a loan for $600,000 and $200,000 to be repaid with interest.

The suit states that the school "retained insufficient resources to reasonably assure its anticipated borrowings, particularly the borrowings by the foundation from Short Term in the amount of $800,000."

Ted Parsons, attorney for the charter school for financial litigation, said that he believes the idea of the mediation is for Short Term Money to also be involved, but he is not certain.

The news of Quinn's decision, as well as that of the state recently reducing a $1 million fine to $55,000 to be paid off over a five-year period, left Kevin Kelleher feeling that the future of the charter school is "very, very bright."

Kelleher, the newest trustee whose nomination was approved by the board at last week's meeting, is expected to join the board officially at the Oct. 18 board meeting.

Trustee Josephine Lee made the motion to approve Kelleher to fill the first parent-nominated seat, and the motion was seconded by Bunn.

Kelleher was nominated to the board by a vote of 5 to 1, with trustee Michael Moore voting against the nomination.

With two children currently attending the charter school, and a third expecting to enter kindergarten next year, Kelleher and his wife have lived in the borough since 1997.

Kelleher, a vice president with JPMorgan Chase, said that he chose the charter school for his children because, among other things, the charter school offers a low teacher-to-student ratio.

"I liked the fact that the state gave Red Bank families a choice," he said. "I don't have anything against the [Red Bank Primary School]. In fact, all of my kids went through the pre-K programs at the primary school, and when they came to the charter school they were very well prepared."

Kelleher said that he is glad to have an opportunity to serve the school because he would have felt terrible if the school closed and he hadn't gotten as involved.

"Over the last couple of years, there has been a lot of doubt about the future of the school," he said. "I would not have felt good about myself or my family if I did nothing and the school did shut down."

Kelleher said that he would like to see more cooperation between the public school system and the charter school.

"I'd like to see the board do as much reaching out as possible, so that the community as a whole can be served in unison," he said.