Field narrows as 14 charter hopefuls submit proposals to Philly SRC

Fourteen potential Philadelphia charter operators submitted applications for proposed new schools by the November 15 deadline.  That’s about one third as many as last year.

Ten of 14 applications came from existing Philadelphia charter operators. Six of the 14 applications came from entities that did not submit applications in the 2014-15 cycle.

In total, the 14 applicants request an additional 9,845 charter school seats over the next six years in a diverse array of neighborhoods. Six applications hope to open schools in West Philadelphia; three in North Philadelphia; three in Center City; one in Mt. Airy; one in Strawberry Mansion.

Twenty-two schools had submitted letters of intent by the Oct 15 deadline.

Below is the list of 14 that filed full applications:

School name Applicant Neighborhood Opening year Grade config Enrollment yr 5 1 Ramon F. Betances ASPIRA of PA, Inc Olney 2016-17 K-8 675 2 Belmont Charter High Community Education Alliance of West Philadelphia Belmont/ City-Wide, or as needed 2016-17 9-12 500 3 Chestnut Hill Innovation Chestnut Hill Innovation Charter School, Inc. West Mt. Airy 2016-17 K-8 675 4 City Academy Charter School Public Health Management Corporation Center Center City 2016-17 K-12 1,376 5 Esperanza Elementary Nueva Esperanza Inc. Hunting Park 2017-18 K-5 800 6 FACTS-2 Folk Arts Cultural Treasures Charter Chinatown 2017-18 K-8 819 7 Global Leadership Academy International GLAICHS board members and GLA founding coalition West Phila (serving Mansion, Mantua, and West Philadelphia) 2016-17 9-12 600 8 James Baldwin Charter JBCHS board of trustees Mantua 2016-17 9-12 400 9 KIPP North Philadelphia KIPP Strawberry Mansion 2017-18 K-12 1,380 10 KIPP Parkside KIPP Parkside 2017-18 K-8 860 11 Montessori Charter School Philadelphia Montessori Charter School, Inc. Southwest Philadelphia 2016-17 K-8 492 12 Russell Byers Academy Russell Byers Charter School Center City 2017-18 6-8 320 13 Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School for Girls Alphonso Evans, Mark Allen, and Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School for Girls, Inc. Southwest Philadelphia 2016-17 K-8 448 14 The Pavilion Charter School for Exceptional Students The Pavilion Inc. North Philadelphia 2016-17 K-5 500

The School Reform Commission is scheduled to vote on the proposals at a Feb 15 meeting. Applicants will testify before a review board starting Dec 7.

Last year, 40 applicants submitted proposals. The SRC eventually green-lit six new charter schools.

After years of moratorium on independent new charters, the SRC was compelled to begin hearing new applications last year based on a trade-off in the state legislation that allowed Philadelphia to fund schools by hiking its cigarette tax.

The SRC will also consider a resubmitted application from Liguori Academy in the coming months.

Liguori is one of four applicants rejected in last year’s cycle to resubmit. Belmont and Esperanza charters were again denied. KIPP’s bid to open a K-4 elementary school in West Philadelphia was approved in May.

The SRC will vote on the Liguori resubmission at its meeting in January. There are not public hearings on resubmissions.