Districts Take Charter School to Court - See the Charges

1.

Deadline Missed

The RISE mayoral academy had an application deadline of December 1, 2014 in order to open for the 2015-2016 school year. According to the lawsuit, the school’s organizers did not file in time, in violation of state law.

2.

Public Opposition

The lawsuit states that the law requires the state Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, which approves charter school applications, to evaluate the level of community support for RISE. The school committees and town councils of Woonsocket, Burrillville, and North Smithfield passed resolutions opposing RISE. In addition, 100 North Smithfield residents write letters in opposition, according to the lawsuit. 

3.

Cost to School District

Charter schools like RISE are expected to result in a net loss of money to the Woonsocket School District. By 2020, the loss would amount to an annual $2.4 million, according to a March 19, 2015 letter from the Woonsocket Budget Commission that is cited in the lawsuit. 

4.

Board Chair Controversy

Originally, Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt was supposed to serve as chair of the board for RISE—something that is a requirement of state law. But Baldelli-Hunt withdrew as board chair last December for undisclosed reasons, according to the lawsuit. 

5.

Town Official Violation

After Baldelli-Hunt stepped down as chairman of RISE, the elected town administrator of North Smithfield Paulette Hamilton offered to replace her. The lawsuit claims that Hamilton is barred from doing so because she did not get permission from the town council, as required by its charter. “Defying this limitation on her powers, Ms. Hamilton has, in her position as an Town Administrator, decided to contract with RISE in a manner that will impose significant financial costs on North Smithfield,” the lawsuit states. 

6.

Town Official Denial

North Smithfield Town Administrator Paulette Hamilton denies that she has violated the town ordinance in serving as board chairman for RISE. The ordinance bars her from unilaterally agreeing to a contract. But she asserts that there is no contract between North Smithfield and the new charter school.

“The allegations that I violated the charter are completely untrue. … I did not sign on, it was Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt who signed the papers to be the chair to get the establishment and the application. … My feet can’t be held to the fire,” Hamilton stated in an interview on the television show, State of Mind, which is cited in the lawsuit. 

7.

State Auditor Review

RISE was supposed to get the green light from the state Auditor General. According to the lawsuit, “The Regulations state that ‘[t]o obtain final approval, applicants shall satisfactorily complete the following tasks: … (b) All applicants must have their project’s business plan, financial management procedures, and other relevant financial information reviewed by the Rhode Island Office of the Auditor General.’ …On June 23, 2015, the Office of the Auditor General confirmed that it had not completed this step and had no intention of doing so.”

8.

Unlicensed Administrator

The administrator for RISE must be state-certified. However, the proposed school administrator, Rosalind Murphy, did not have her certification by June 9, 2015, when RISE approved her school’s application, according to the lawsuit. 

9.

Secret School Site

One of the more basic requirements of the application process is that a school site be specified. “Even to this date, RISE has not publicly identified the building that will house the mayoral academy, much less from whom and under what terms and conditions it is to be provided,” the lawsuit states. (Just days after June 26 filing of the lawsuit, the location was announced as 1 Social Street in Woonsocket.)

10.

Lawless Lottery

The lawsuit alleges that the lottery system that decides how students are enrolled in RISE is unlawful. While the system claims to be evenhanded, granting 50 percent of seats to urban students (from Woonsocket) and 50 percent to suburban students (from Burrillville and North Smithfield), it’s actually gives greater preference to suburban students because there will be fewer applicants from the two towns, according to the lawsuit. 

11.

Burrillville Bumped

The board of directors for RISE must have representatives from each community, but there are none from Burrillville, according to the lawsuit. 

12.

No Appeals

“RISE failed to ‘[p]rovide procedures by which teaching personnel and parents can legally challenge decisions of the governing board of the mayoral academy which do not conform to the mayoral academy’s charter’ as of December 1, 2014 as required by state law, and failed to do so even as of June 9, 2015,” the lawsuit states.