The group behind the plan to launch the STEM Academy Charter School in Bristol Township and Northeast Philadelphia has withdrawn their application for their Bucks County location.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The news came Monday and was confirmed by Bristol Township School Board President Angela Nober. Officials from the STEM Academy Charter School referred comment to two other people involved in the application.
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The STEM Academy Charter School application was set to be the focus of a hearing Tuesday evening at the Bristol Township School District’s administrative offices. Due to the withdrawn application, the hearing will still be held to read in a letter on the withdrawn application.
The local effort was spearheaded by Bill Malampy and Bishop Melvin Howard. Recently, Howard withdrew his support for the plan and sent a letter to school board members urging them not to support it.
The proposed STEM Academy Charter School would give students more meaningful time in the classroom and require parents to be more involved in their child’s education, Malampy said in summer.
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Malampy, an educated man with multiple degrees, said the STEM Academy plan was based on the economy of scale. For the charter school finances and staffing to work in Bristol Township, a hub school would have to be approved in Philadelphia. From there, the Bristol Township school could be developed. No location for the proposed school has been chosen yet STEM Academy planners said they have several options in Bristol Township.
Philadelphia School District officials have not approved a charter in several years. Several local school officials told LevittownNow.com they doubted the city would approve STEM Academy Charter School’s application.
The group behind the STEM Academy worked with Dr. James Gilmour at Temple University and Sister Francesca Onley of Holy Family University to put together a roughly 1,000-page application that was submitted to Bristol Township School District officials recently. As part of the background work, Malampy traveled to China and across the United State to gather the best techniques to help local students thrive. He also has spoken with organizations like NASA on how to best educate students on the sciences.
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The school would be funded by grants and would receive tuition costs per student from traditional districts that send students to STEM Academy, Malampy told LevittownNow.com this summer.
The STEM Academy team held an open meeting with community members in summer before the application submission.
Howard said he withdrew support because the STEM Academy Charter School group had come from Philadelphia and used several of the local efforts ideas. He called the application that was submitted a “dud” and noted he has begun work on a new charter school application.
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“I have about 5 years of research and planning that will be going into the new application. We hope to submit sometime next year,” Howard said.
Howard was previously behind an attempt to bring a charter school to Bristol Township. In 2011, he was one of several people behind the Excel Academy Charter School application. The application came before the school board and was not approved.
