Credit:Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The fight to bring a charter school to the Neshaminy School District seems far from over.
The school board on Monday evening voted 7-2 to appeal a November Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court decision to the state Supreme Court. Board members Bob Feather and Mike Morris voted against the appeal.
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The decision is related to Philadelphia-based MaST Charter School hoping to get approval to open a location within the Neshaminy School District. The original application to open the district in 2013 was denied despite some public support and was appealed by MaST.
The school board in February 2013 denied MaST due to “lack of demonstrated sustainable support for the charter school, failure to identify a suitable facility and failure to demonstrate that MaST-Neshaminy would be a model for other public schools.”
Neshaminy has taken issue with a state Charter School Appeal Board decision directing the district to issue a charter for MaST and the November Commonwealth Court decision that backed it up.
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“After a review of the record, CAB (Charter School Appeal Board) disagrees with the District Board’s findings, and, consistent with the discussion above, finds that MaST-Neshaminy’s program may serve as a model for other public schools,” a panel of three judges wrote in November.
The appeal board and Commonwealth Court decisions came after an earlier Bucks County court action and will now move to the state’s highest court.
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Morris and former board member Anthony Sposato on Monday evening spoke out in support of the charter school, according to the Bucks County Courier Times. The report also added community member Deb Harker spoke in support of the plan.
MaST describes itself as creating ” innovative pathways for students pursuing knowledge focused on Mathematics, Science, and Technology.”
