by Deborah Grill
The application for this new charter high school begins on a disingenuous note. In actuality, this new charter school, if approved, would be an extension of the applicant’s existing K-8 school, Pan American Academy Charter School (PAACS). But instead of taking the appropriate route and applying for an amendment requesting enrollment and grade expansion, the founding coalition decided to apply for a new charter high school, Pan American Academy Charter School Pathways High School. Why? During the January public hearing, Pan American-Pathways’ attorney admitted that the Pennsylvania Charter School Law provides no avenue for the applicant to appeal if that amendment request is denied. Pan American-Pathways could, however, appeal if the board refused to approve the new charter, thus costing the district not only existing student tuition fees for PAACS, but also additional legal fees incurred by the applicant, PAACS, and the district during the appeals process. The district is already in the process of deciding how many district schools it will close due to lack of funds. Approving this charter would create another substantial drain on district resources.
The board of the proposed Pan American-Pathways high school would include the present nine board members of PAACS (none of whom have experience on the board of a secondary school), plus up to six additional members, some of whom would be appointed by Congreso de Latinos Unidos. The Congreso organization founded PAACS and now functions as its programming partner. Congreso also owns the building that houses PAACS’ K-8 school. This raises questions about the weight of Congreso’s influence on the new school. The evaluation issued by the district’s Charter Schools Office (CSO) states that it is unclear whether or not the applicant has negotiated an “an-arms length” relationship with Congreso.
In reality, the PAACS board would be one corporate entity with one set of bylaws for both the existing school and the new school, apparently intended by the administration to operate as one contiguous school. That is legally questionable since there would be two schools with two charters issued by the board of education. This move illustrates the duplicity with which the organization is proceeding: apply for a new school but in reality operate two schools as one. In the application narrative, PAACS describes the proposed charter as a different kind of “potential structure”: a charter that combines PAACS and Pathways H.S. into a single charter school (operating at two locations). Attachment 35 shows that PAACS has committed $800,000 in start-up costs to the high school but according to the CSO evaluation,”the agreement and repayment are not documented by an arm-length agreement between the two charter entities which may constitute a violation of the Charter School Law.” How does a public charter school have enough funds to give away almost a million dollars?
The board by-laws and conflict of interest policy presented for the board of the proposed high school are in actuality those for the K-8 school. During the public application hearing held by the district in January, the applicants admitted that the finances of the new school will be intertwined with their existing elementary school, and that the high school will be financially dependent on the viability of PAACS. The high school dissolution plan would be the same as the K-12 school. If one school dissolves, both schools dissolve. That would be extremely disruptive to the families of both schools.
The CEO of the existing elementary school, Dr. Darcy Russotto, will also be the CEO of the high school which brings up the question of how she will be compensated. Will she be paid two salaries–one for each school? According to the most recent IRS 990 available, she is paid $244,543 in salary and compensation as CEO of the existing K-8 school.
Several questions were raised in the hearing about the applicant’s finances. Hearing Officer Kenneth Roos asked how the applicant would adjust spending if revenues fell short. The proposed budget is based on 98% enrollment, but the application does not include nearly enough parental commitments to fill the 9th grade class in its first year of operation. The number of students determines how much tuition money the district must pay the charter school; therefore, the high school would need 200 Grade 9 students to cover costs during its opening year. The applicant offered only 38 intent-to-enroll forms for the 9th grade; only 23 of those were from 8th grade students at PAACS.
The narrative states that Jounce Partners will deliver training on high-leverage instructional practices to improve teaching quality. This raises serious questions about school culture and learning. The Jounce program is based on an extremely restrictive, repetitive, and non-child centered program that may work for business management, but is not suitable for the social, emotional and creative lessons that inspire children to succeed.
PAACS is currently operating under a charter that has not been renewed in 12 years. Since their 2013 charter, PAACS has refused to agree to the district’s conditions for renewal, both in 2018 and 2023. Why would the board consider giving this organization an additional school? They do not operate in good faith, refusing to implement conditions that would benefit their students. The board has not moved to revoke the PAACS charter, and the PA Charter School Law allows them to operate without a current charter agreement.
Pan American Academy Charter School-Pathways High School
Focus: Bilingual education, International Baccalaureate curriculum, career pathways in health sciences, technology, business and human services
Proposed location: 118-160 Indiana Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19134
Neighborhood: Kensington
Grades: 9-12
Targeted zip codes: 19133, 19134
Projected Enrollment: 800 students at scale
Proposed CEO Salary: in question–see above
Projected cost to district over 5 years: $56,665,274
Projected additional cost to taxpayers for state rent reimbursement subsidy: $734,431
The school will rent space from Impact Services at an annual Rental rate of $23.50 per square foot + NNN (Triple net lease are agreements in which the tenant, in addition to rent, agrees to pay the property expenses such as real estate taxes, building insurance, maintenance, rent, and utilities). The rent for Pan American Charter-Pathways would increase from $395,933.00 + NNN in year one to $2,310,954.00 + NNN to $2,599,813.12 + NNN in years 11-15. In addition to rent the school will be responsible for these NNN estimated costs: Real Estate Taxes: $30,779.00; Property and Casualty Insurance $85,000.00; Condominium Association Fees: $20,000.00
Why condominium Association fees? The school is renting 3 units in The Mills Redevelopment Building owned by Impact Services. Are those three units zoned as condominiums?
Taxpayer money will be used to pay this rent as all Pennsylvania charter schools receive a rent subsidy from the state.
The applicant states that it will focus on students in zip codes 19133 and 19134 because there is only one high school in the area, Mastbaum Technical High School. (Mastbaum offers 10 CTE programs including many in health related fields.)
First of all, not every zip code has a high school. Neighborhood high schools each serve several different zip codes. However, the applicant fails to mention the three other high schools in the zip codes directly adjacent to their targeted zip codes and just a short ride by bus or on The Market-Frankford elevated line:
Kensington Health and Sciences, 19125: Health Related Technology, Pharmacy Technology, Dental Assistance, Global Leadership
Kensington H.S. 19125: Computer Support Systems Technology, Engineering (civil, electrical, mechanical, electromechanical, industrial)
Kensington CAPA 19122: CTE program in Digital Media (Photography, video production, Graphic and web design)
When asked during the hearing how those in the target catchments would benefit, the applicant replied that students won’t have to go out of the neighborhood for school. However, the school intends to also have citywide admissions. When the hearing officer asked whether getting there will be a problem for students outside of those two zip codes, the applicant replied that there is a SEPTA stop nearby and the school is a short walk from the Market–Frankford line.
Founding Coalition Members
Dr. Darcy Russotto, CEO, PAACS
Lisandra Kelly, director of human resources and operations, PAACS
Dr. Joshua Fineberg, director of student services, PAACS
Mercedes Mason de Gomez, director of talent management, PAACS
Constance Malone, dean of curriculum, instruction and assessment PAACS
Laura Higgins Di Vito, dean of curriculum instruction and assessment, PAACS
Brendan Conlin, chief program officer, Congreso
Janette Diaz, interim president and CEO, Congreso
Shira Woolf Cohen, co-founder, Innovageous
Joanna Hightower, co-founder, Innovageous
B. Robin Eglin, president and CEO, OmniVest Management
Proposed Potential Board Members
Dr. Nelson Flores, associate professor of Educational Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
Donna Leuchten Niccio, director of healthy food access lending, Reinvestment fund
Dana Bicksler Espinosa, parent representative
Dr. Joseph Ducette, Emeritus Professor, Temple University
Ashley Feuer-Edwards, founder and principal AFE Strategies
Jessika Garcia, parent representative, physical therapist assistant, Corizon Health
Maria Gonzales, president HACE CDC
Caroline Gorman, partner, Strdley Ronan Stevens & Young law firm
Hector Guzman, field director, Auto Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphi
Four of the proposed board members did not list their place of residence. It is unknown whether they are residents of Pennsylvania, which is now a requirement of the Charter School Law. The Charter School law also requires two board members must be parents of students attending the proposed high school.
School Operations
The applicant does not intend to work with a charter management organization (CMO) or any educational management organization (EMO). The applicant states that it will use PAACS board and leadership staff and will contract with these vendors for the following services:
Business and Financial: Omnivest
Food Services: Whitsons food Services
Nurse Services: Mid-Atlantic Consortium of Charter Schools
Health Services: MACCS
Contracting with vendors to perform services that a school would normally supply has become a profitable opportunity for many businesses in the charter school sector.
Leadership Team
This team will consist of 18 people:1.Chief Executive Officer (CEO), 2.Deputy Chief of Operations (DCO), 3.Deputy Chief of Instruction (DCI), 4.Deputy Chief of Student Services (DCSS), 5.Director of Talent Management, 6.Director of Technology, 7. Director of Security, 8. Director of Strategic Initiatives, 9.Principal, 10.Assistant Principal, Athletic & Activities Director, 11. Dean of Culture (DOC), 12. Dean of Curriculum – IB, 13. Special Education and English Language Coordinators, 14. InstructionalCoach,15.InterventionServices Coordinator (ISC), 16. Facilities Manager, 17. School Resource Officer, 18. Food Service Coordinator.
According to their 2023 IRS 990, PAACS had 6 leadership team members earning a yearly salary over $100,000, totalling $1,151,859 for the 6 positions. How many of the 18 proposed positions will be paid over 100,000 and how much will that cost taxpayers?
The CSO evaluation states; “If a charter is granted for a high school, staff members could only be employed by either the proposed charter school or PAACS. Each position would split time between the proposed high school and PAACS.” However, the application narrative states that “Leadership team members include executive-level leaders who would serve the full K-12, as well as a focused leadership team that will ensure high-quality leadership of Pathways HS. Again, this raises questions concerning the independence of the two schools.
Application Process and Admission Preferences
The applicant will conduct a lottery through Apply Philly Charter. It is inconsistent in its description of preferences. Attachment 25 lists these preferences for admission: residents of zip codes 19133, 19134, siblings of existing students, child of a founding member, Philadelphia residents. However, in another section it states that students from PAACS and residents of zip codes 19133, 1934, will get preferences but doesn’t mention siblings or children of founders.
This is not the only inconsistency in the application. The Charter School evaluation refers to many inconsistencies and omissions in the application. You can read and/or download the Charter School Offices complete evaluation of the application here.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 