Judge Keeps Academy Open for Now

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Academy of Moore County won a preliminary victory Tuesday in its legal battle to keep the charter school open.

Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison Jr. granted The Academy's motion to stay action by the State Board of Education not to renew the school's charter until a final ruling is made in the case.

Without the stay, the charter would have expired June 30, effectively shutting down the school. It has about 170 students.

The hearing was held at the state Office of Administrative Hearings in Raleigh.

The state board voted in March not to renew school's charter, citing low academic performance.

Kieran Shanahan, the Raleigh attorney representing the Academy, praised Morrison's ruling after the hearing, saying he used "practical and common-sense judgment."

"I think he ruled in favor not only of the school, but also the children and the community," he said.

The hearing lasted about five hours and included sworn testimony from Allyson Schoen, the school's director of education, and state education officials.

The Academy maintains that the state based its decision on old testing data and failed to consider academic improvements the school has made since implementing a corrective action plan in 2008 and that it moved into a new $2.2 million facility in Aberdeen before the school year began.

Though the Academy has had a troubled past, it met the state's expected academic growth standards last year for the first time in four years. Schoen said Monday that preliminary results from this year's testing also look positive.

Assistant Attorney General Laura Crumpler, who represented the State Board of Education, told Morrison that the board determined, after reviewing the school's performance, that it was failing its students.

"The petitioners are asking this court in three or four hours today to overrule the very body that has been vested with the authority to take care of the children in this state," she said.

A full hearing on the merits of the case - to determine if the state board acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in deciding not to renew the charter - is expected to take place sometime in August. A decision could come by this fall.

An emotional Schoen said after the hearing that Morrison's ruling was just the beginning and a lot of work remained.

"This is a win for kids," she said. "These kids, they're the ones who are winning."

Contact John Krahnert III by e-mail at jkrahnert@thepilot.com.

More like this story

nikki 1 year, 8 months ago

To All the Staff of The Academy of Moore Praise the Lord. Prayer does work, as a child our parents always to us to PUSH, and in a case like this we all did. Push---Pray until something happens. Thank God for all of you and the wonderful kids at this school. Thank him for a victory such as this. Please keep up the good work and stay encouraged. Continue to strive for the best and always put him first as we all know you have done so many times. A special thanks to the Judge who saw fit to rule in our favor. Like the Bible say.... Vengence is mine, I will repay, we don't have to argue back and forth with people, the battle is not ours, but that of the Lord. I love all you, have a great summer.

CSmithson 1 year, 8 months ago

The WRAL story reported that there were 100 students on the waiting list to get into this school. One can only dream that one day there are so many who have such a strong desire to get INTO our County schools instead of OUT of them...

TooHot 1 year, 8 months ago

So if they closed this school, where would these 'underperforming' children then go to school? Most of these types of schools are full of children that have been booted out of the other public schools or couldn't hack their regimens. They go to these schools and get back into the school experience from a different approach. Let em be.

SusanComstock 1 year, 8 months ago

This is such great news. My child attended school at The Academy of Moore last year, and we are looking forward to next year. I am very happy that Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison Jr. made the ruling in our favor.

workingmom 1 year, 8 months ago

TooHot you should visit this school before making comments like that. I have one that I choose to put in The Academy in which we LOVE! My kindergarden student grown with leaps and bounds at the Academy and has been to the libary every day this week to get books for reading and is very excited about 1st grade. So do not assume it is a school of bad kids. We have great kids!

ncmom 1 year, 8 months ago

@TooHot

This is a Charter school which is open to all students! It's like a private school without the expensive tuition. Smaller class size and more one on one. Nowhere is it mentioned that this school is an alternative school for troubled or "underperforming" children! If you would have gone to the website and got yourself familiar with the school then you would have known this.