Charter school gets OK for five more years

BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

Red Bank Charter School RED BANK - Members of the Red Bank Charter School community will spend tonight celebrating the renewal of the school's charter, which was officially announced by the state Department of Education this week.

"We are thrilled about it," said charter school Principal Meredith Pennotti last week after the school was notified by a letter from DOE Commissioner Lucille E. Davy.

"Red Bank Charter School has successfully completed a rigorous review of its program and fiscal-related activities and academic performance," Davy's letter states. "It is my pleasure, therefore, to inform you that I am renewing the charter for the Red Bank Charter School for a second five-year term. This approval is based on the school's academic progress, the school's ongoing examination of its results to guide improvements and the commitment exhibited by the school's administration and board."

DOE spokesman Richard Vespucci said this week that 12 charter schools in the state were granted renewal this year.

"Charter schools are looked at so closely at every phase of their existence," Vespucci said. "Each year charter schools have to file an annual report, followed by an on-site review by members of the Office of Charter Schools' staff."

Vespucci said that aside from a school's initial application for charter approval, the renewal process is the most stringent review process undergone by charter schools.

He said the renewal process includes a review of students' standardized test scores, comments from the county superintendent of schools and recommendations from the local school district's board of education.

He said charter schools must apply for charter renewal every five years, and that this would be the second five-year term for the Red Bank Charter School.

Debra Jellenik, a member of the charter school's ad hoc communications committee, said Tuesday she was not surprised when she heard that the DOE had renewed the school's charter.

"I expected that it would be renewed," she said, "because, in spite of our difficulties in the past year that we've had, our programs are good and the quality of education offered at the school is good. I never expected that the DOE wanted to close a quality school. Once the fine was taken care of, there was no reason for them to want to close us."

Some of the problems faced by the school included a $1 million fine imposed by the DOE because the school failed to go out for public bid for the construction of its Oakland Street campus.

The fine was recently reduced to $55,000, and the state has worked with the school to create a payment plan.

The school also faced empty seats on its nine-member board of trustees, and there was much discussion about how the parents could have more involvement in the nomination process of board members.

Late last year, the school parents voted to nominate three candidates for the board and the sitting board members chose the one they believed was the best candidate, filling the final vacant seat on the board.

Jellenik said that she, and the rest of the school community, are optimistic about the next five years of the school's existence.