Charter, boro schools resolve litigation issues
Resolution provides for exchange of information
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

The Red Bank Public School District and the Red Bank Charter School have each accepted a consent order concerning the Grant of Renewal Application for the charter school.

The consent order is the result of ongoing litigation in which the borough school district asserted that the charter school's student population did not accurately reflect the demographic makeup of the borough.

"We've resolved it," said charter school Board of Trustees President Bruce Whitaker Monday, "and I think that's good for everyone."

The consent order - according to attorney R. Armen McOmber, who represents the borough school district - will formalize and facilitate the exchange of information between the two school districts.

David Apy, the attorney representing the charter school, did not return several phone calls to his office seeking comment.

Whitaker said that the resolution of the litigation should be a relief to everyone.

"It's always a relief if a lawsuit against you is resolved," he said, "especially if you can resolve it in a positive way. I always felt positive about how this would turn out."

According to McOmber, the consent order will require the charter school to have all of its students register with the borough schools, and inform the borough public school district of any students attending the charter school who are not Red Bank residents.

"The charter school is permitted to enroll students from outside of the district," he said, "but the borough district does not pay for them. The charter school can only enroll out-of-district students if there is room."

Whitaker said that this is not true, and that it is part of the charter of the charter school to accept any students who reside in Red Bank. But it makes no mention of accepting students from outside of the district, he said..

The charter school will also have to submit in writing to the borough district a list of all of its students by grade, gender, race, economic status and Limited English Proficiency (LEP), according to McOmber.

That list must be updated no later than Jan. 15.

The charter school must also forward its agendas and minutes from Board of Trustees meetings to the public school district, and agree to comply fully with the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act.

McOmber said that the charter school will also have to "use best efforts" to align the demographics of its school population with the demographics - including, race, gender, economic and LEP status - with that of the student population of the borough.

The charter school will also have to exhaust all reasonable efforts to deal with students' problems before sending them back to the borough district, and no transfers of students will be permitted within 24 weeks prior to taking the state standardized tests, he said.

The charter school is also required to advertise its annual enrollment lottery in Spanish language newspapers and press releases, and seek to recruit students from the ever-increasing Spanish-speaking population in the borough.

"The charter school has acknowledged that they have a problem recruiting from the Latino community," said McOmber.

Whitaker said that all advertisements for the school's lottery are already printed in both English and Spanish, but are not, as far as he knows, currently printed in Spanish-language newspapers.

"I'm not aware of any Spanish language newspapers that serve the Red Bank area," he said.

More than half of the student population of the borough district schools are LEP.

The borough public school district will have to be notified of the enrollment lottery at least 10 days prior to its taking place, according to McOmber, so that a representative from the borough board of education can attend.

The charter school board unanimously voted to approve the resolution accepting the consent order, said Whitaker, adding that he believes it is the best move for the borough as well.

"I think the relationship between the charter school and the borough schools has already improved recently," he said. "This is just another step in that. I think the lines of communication have already been opened up, and it is already much better than it was. Maybe now we will be able to work even better together and see how we complement each other."

The borough board of education formally approved the consent agreement at its Feb. 27 meeting, although not unanimously.

Although Whitaker said the charter school board is pleased with the resolution of the litigation, many of the borough school board members said they did not believe the consent order had enough clout to make a difference.

"I do appreciate Mr. McOmber's efforts," said board member Mary-Ellen Mess, "but I'm very disappointed with the consent order. It's nothing more than an agreement where the charter school agrees to follow the law."

Mess said that she believes the charter school has exacerbated the segregated nature of Red Bank schools.

Whitaker said that the charter school already accurately represents the make-up of the borough.

"It is a random process for the kids to get into the school," he said, "and I think our population demographics show the demographics of the town as a whole already."

McOmber said that in some ways, the consent order does just formalize legal items, but it also allows for more information to be passed back and forth between the two school districts.

"The borough schools will also have to give a list of their students broken down by grade, race, gender, economic status and LEP to the charter school," he said.

Borough district board member Peter Noble said the agreed with Mess.

"I think it's a damn shame that we have to do this," he said, "and that the people in Trenton [at the Department of Education] are not doing it."

Mess and Noble voted against approving the consent order, four members voted in favor of approving it, and one board member, Juanita Lewis, abstained from the vote.

"It's too bad that it's gotten to this point, that we have to do this just to make them comply," Lewis said. "This is just an effort to finally move forward. It is sad. It is sad."

Board member Anne Roseman, who voted to approve the order, said she feels this situation is unfortunate.

"It's a pity," she said, "and unfortunate that the taxpayers of Red Bank have to pay for it. This decision has been forced on us by Trenton. I'm not happy with the outcome."

Board member Dr. Diana Salvador, voted to approve the consent order, but said that she agreed with Mess' sentiments.

"I share your concerns," she said. "I hope the consent order will allow us to take the actions to better the situation as it is."