Graystone Academy Charter School




The Pennsylvania Charter School Appeals Board unanimously voted Tuesday to deny the appeal of Graystone Academy Charter School in South Coatesville to keep its charter.

The board reaffirmed the decision by the Coatesville Area School Board to revoke the charter, ordered in November 2011.

“Initiating the process of revoking Graystone’s charter was a difficult decision for our (school) board,” said Neil Campbell, Coatesville area school board president. “But once the hearings regarding Graystone commenced and concluded, and the board reviewed evidence and testimony regarding multiple major charter violations committed by Graystone, it was clear to us that Graystone students were suffering academically and their educational interests were best served by us revoking its charter. Clearly the Charter School Appeals Board agrees with us.”...

Graystone’s Board of Trustees, however, said it plans to file an appeal with the Commonwealth Court in response to Tuesday’s ruling. It will also request a stay of the revocation and said it still plans to open the school on time, on Aug. 26...

In its ruling, the Charter School Appeals Board noted every major violation the school board raised as a basis for revoking Graystone’s charter was meritorious and in accordance with the law. The ruling, officials said, confirms that the decision of the school board to revoke Graystone’s charter was appropriate and lawful...
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The Coatesville Area School District has begun hearings on whether to close the 430-student Graystone Academy Charter School, citing alleged violations involving academic and financial matters.

Graystone said financial reasons were behind the challenge.

The allegations - set out in a March 16 letter from Coatesville Board President J. Neil Campbell - state that Graystone had failed to carry out several promised academic programs and policies. The school was also accused of not meeting certain academic benchmarks and fiscal-management standards…

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

As somebody who knows this school quite well, I think it's fair to say that this has nothing to do with the actual school but money for the Coatesville school district. They see a charter school getting millions of dollars that could go towards their public schools as long as it gets shut down. Looking for any possible small mistake that most public schools make daily, it is unfair and incredibly unprofessional. But then again, isn't it always about the money? What about the kids getting a great education with professional teachers who care about them.

Anonymous said...

While I agree that Coatesville School District would hit below the belt if they could, and frequently do, Graystone has, unfortunately, given them the ammunition in this fight. I will never send my kids to CASD, but if the only choice were between CASD and Graystone, I'd probably choose the lousy local public school as the lesser of two evils. Fortunately there are other options...

Anonymous said...

Look at the # for state testing

Anonymous said...

Charter School Scandals - what a joke this is. It's like the fox guarding the hen house! We are in the West Chester Area School District where fudging grades and other numbers, non-reporting of bullying incidences, lying and deceitfulness to parents, using gifted resources as a bargaining chip to parents who really need them (offered if they agree to promote public school) is considered everyday business. Go cyber schools, go!

Anonymous said...

All the bashing CASD took on this over the years have proven that Graystone is/was a failing school who didn't live up to their charter. This is not just the opinion of the school district, but the Charter Appeals Board (a state agency which is pro-charter) and the Commonwealth Courts who said Graystone doesn't have a reasonable chance of winning additional appeals and, therefore, can't continue to operate during the appeals process. Although they're entitled to continue their fight, please do the rest of the taxpayers in the district a favor and stop wasting our money. Because, yes, the money they've spent fighting for the past two years has come from the tuition funds they receive from the sending school disticits (almost all from CASD)