Charter school has one month for improvements, county says

EXCEL Academy, beset by problems, must fix building by Sept. 23 to keep permit

Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006

The charter school movement is underway in Prince George’s County after a few bumps and glitches marred the first days of class.

EXCEL Academy in Beltsville, one of the first three charter schools in the county, was beset by problems with its building, leading to a week-long delay in its opening and a reduction in the number of students the school could accommodate to 285 from 370. The forced reduction meant some parents didn’t know until Saturday that they would have to find other school homes for their children, in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Potomac Charter School in Fort Washington also suffered construction problems, but was able to open Aug. 24.

Turning Point Academy in Lanham, was the only charter school to open on time on Monday, Aug. 21. But the school opened with a shortage of textbooks.

Excel has until Sept. 23 to make improvements to its building to keep a county-issued temporary operating permit.

‘‘As long as they are making progress towards these goals, we would extend the temporary use and occupancy permit,” said Tom Matzen, acting deputy director of Environmental Operations for the Department of Environmental Resources.

The school must provide detailed architectural drawings, repair holes in walls and rearrange exit ways to comply, Matzen said.

The school administration must ensure fire alarms are also working properly and add more restrooms to comply with the permit requirements.

Matzen said a shutdown of the school was remote and would only occur if no progress was made on these requirements.

‘‘I hope that doesn’t happen,” said Iris Metts, president of A+ Choice Solutions, Inc., a charter school consulting firm working with EXCEL. ‘‘But it’s true.” Peter Thomas, whose son attends EXCEL, was surprised to hear that he may have to find another school for him if EXCEL had to shut down.

‘‘I wouldn’t be thrilled if that happened,” Thomas said. ‘‘I certainly hope this doesn’t come to pass. This whole thing (launching the charter school) has been one big fiasco.”

School system inspectors went through the building July 12 to ensure construction was on track but more issues arose Aug. 24 when the county Department of Environmental Resources handed out the temporary use and occupancy permit.

‘‘They knew about the space modifications they needed to make to the building on July 12,” said schools spokesman John White. ‘‘They found out about other things they needed to do through the county permit process.”

Metts said the county permit process has been difficult to deal with.

‘‘Some of these issues were brought up at a later date [than July 12],” Metts said. ‘‘We would resolve one problem and another issue would come up. It was a moving target.”

Metts said school leaders were told Aug. 24 that they would also have to reduce the enrollment allowed at the school.

That meant that parents had to remove about 85 children from the academy. About 60 parents chose to remove their children once they heard there were space problems, but about 20 parents had to be told by the administration that their children had to go elsewhere.

Talisha Saddler was one of the parents told Saturday that she could not bring her two children — one in kindergarten the other in fifth grade — to the academy despite having bought uniforms and having all their school supplies ready.

‘‘It was frustrating, especially by that point, since they had already missed ... the first week of school,” Saddler, of Laurel, said. ‘‘The frustration turned to anger... I had to re-register them all over again.”Saddler’s children now attend Oaklands Elementary School in Laurel.

Since Excel opened a week later than other county schools, Saddler stayed home during the first week of school to take care of her children.

‘‘It’s costing parents time-wise and with money,” Saddler said of the delay followed by the letdown of her children not being able to attend EXCEL. ‘‘Not to mention the kids, I mean it’s their education.”

All children who were not able to attend EXCEL Academy can go to regular, neighborhood public schools or find a private school opening.

Thomas said that despite the problems, he was confident EXCEL would be able to stay open.

‘‘I’m just hoping for the best,” Thomas, of Largo, said. ‘‘I think that what they are trying to do is best for the kids.”

Staff Writer Brooke Garner contributed to this report.

E-mail Guy Leonard at gleonard@gazette.net.