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Sunday, September 18, 2016

Barack Obama Green Charter School withdraws Dunn property application

 

The school was proposing to convert the Dunn residence
and add a new wing for its campus.


Plainfield
's Barack Obama Green Charter School has withdrawn its application for a variance to locate on the Dunn property next to duCret School of Art. I wrote about that proposal in August (see here).

In a letter from the school's attorneys Schwarz Simon Edelstein & Celso, hand-delivered to the Plainfield Planning Division on Friday (see below), the school withdrew its application without comment or giving any reason.

The request to have its unused escrow monies returned suggests that the deal is dead.

We do not know if the school and the Dunns could mot reach an agreement on terms of a sale, whether the school decided its case for a variance was not strong enough, or whether the school is looking elsewhere.

No matter.

This incident has brought the matter of Plainfield's charter schools to wider attention, and there are several questions that I am considering pursuing going forward --

  • After several years, how do the charters compare to the Plainfield school district in regard to academic achievement, class sizes, graduation rates, etc?

  • How are their students selected, and are they broadly representative of the community?

  • As for governance, how are their boards constituted and to whom are they answerable?

  • Thirdly, what other sources of funds are there besides the funding drawn from the District? This is important when the schools take on purchasing or building facilities. Whose money is used and where does it come from?
There will be more coverage of Plainfield's charer schools coming.

Here's the letter --



  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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