Richard Allen Charter failed to meet academic standards in 2015, 2017, and 2018 CSO evaluations. The school has failed again to meet academic standards in the 2021 renewal evaluation. Yet the CSO recommends the school be renewed for another five years.
- 2001: Richard Allen Preparatory Charter opens
- 2014-15: CSO recommends one-year renewal; SRC postpones vote indefinitely
- 2017: CSO Update recommends Non-renewal and revocation after RAPCS fails to meet Academic and Organizational standards; SRC tables vote indefinitely
- 2018: SRC approves 5-year renewal with voluntary surrender clause
- 2020: Board does not conduct any public review of adherence to conditions in surrender clause
- 2021: CSO recommends 5-year renewal with conditions, drops surrender clause
Richard Allen Charter opened twenty years ago at 2610 S. 58th Street in Southwest Philadelphia as a citywide-admit middle school with grades 5 through 8. The current enrollment is 439, less than the authorized enrollment maximum of 500. Richard Allen paid its CEO $199, 490 in 2018 per IRS 990.
RAPCS failed to meet Academic standards for at least the past 6 years. The 2021 CSO evaluation shows that RAPCS scored below both District and similar schools in all tested subjects in all years reported.
Richard Allen failed to provide students and families full due process rights in expulsions. According to the CSO: The hearing notifications provided by the Charter School lacked the student’s rights in compliance with Chapter 12 for all expulsions during the charter term. The school failed to provide nine (9) student’s with the right to testify and present witnesses on their own behalf, right to request that witnesses appear in person and answer questions or be cross-examined and right to be presented with the names of witnesses against the student and copies of the statements and affidavits of those witnesses. In addition, out of 9 nine hearing notifications, four hearing notifications’ content was incorrect. One stated the wrong charge, another stated different charges between the informal and formal notice and contained a typo, another stated the wrong date and one notice addressed the wrong child.
Richard Allen violated current requirements for employee background checks: Although the School provided evidence of current criminal background checks for 10 of 10 employees, the School failed to maintain records of criminal background checks dating back to employees’ start of employment, as required by PA School Code. The School was not able to provide evidence of maintaining records of PA Criminal Background checks for 8 of 10 files reviewed, PA Child Abuse Clearances of 9 of 10 staff members and FBI Criminal Background Checks for 8 of 10 staff members.
The CSO reports in the Financial section that “the school did not maintain the required minimum level of certified professional staff, which is a cause for nonrenewal or termination of the charter.”
Projected cost to the District to operate Richard Allen Charter for five more years is $30, 262, 250.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 