Charter school suit seen

Three Marlborough-area school districts are poised to sue the state education board over its approval of a math and science charter school.

The suit seeks to reverse the Board of Education's Feb. 24 approval of the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School, which plans to open September 2005.

The three communities contend in the suit that the Board of Education's review of the charter school was "egregious enough" to justify legal action, said Hudson School Superintendent Sheldon Berman.

"We were appalled by the lack of thoroughness and fairness in the process," Berman said. "The [charter school's] application did not meet the standards set by the board itself."

The three communities will file the suit jointly and share the legal costs. The deadline to appeal the board's decision in Middlesex Superior Court is Thursday.

The suit comes under a state statute that allows appeals of administrative decisions by government boards.

Marc Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter School Association, said the legal action was regrettable.

``I just wish the cities and towns would spend their money on their children's schools instead of legal fees," he said.

Marlborough's School Committee voted last week to join the suit after meeting in closed session. The committee decided not to spend more than $15,000 in legal expenses.

John Petrin, Marlborough schools' assistant superintendent, said the education board "didn't follow any of their own procedures," in approving the charter.

Marlborough Mayor Dennis Hunt, who chairs the School Committee, said he did not expect the suit to stop the charter school, but hoped it would shed light on a "flawed" charter school review and funding system.

"We're mainly trying to send a message," he said.

But Berman disagreed, saying the suit had "a viable chance" to succeed. "We're on strong ground here," he said.

School administrators declined to discuss the suit's details more specifically, saying the lawyers were still working out the language.

The lawyers could not be reached for comment.

In the past, administrators have said the charter school would cater to high-performing students and discriminate against bilingual and disabled students.

Under law, charter schools cannot consider intelligence or academic performance in admissions.

At the board's February meeting, school administrators argued that the Marlborough charter was changed after the public comment period and that the public was not allowed to comment on those changes.

State education officials said that no substantial changes were made to the proposal.

The Marlborough-area charter school would draw an estimated 275 sixth- and seventh-grade students primarily from Clinton and the three towns filing suit.

The school will eventually expand to the high school level and will offer "rigorous and intensive" instruction to some 1,000 middle- and high-school students, according to school founder Julia Sigalovsky.

Sigalovsky has said that the region's concentration of high-tech firms creates a high demand for targeted math and science studies.

The charter school's application also angered educators by suggesting that the quality of public schools dissuades some parents from moving to the area.

Most administrators in existing public schools sharply oppose charter schools, which divert state assistance from home district.

In Marlborough, administrators say they will lose $9,000 in state educational aid for each student who chooses to enroll in the charter school.

With education budgets stretched thin, opponents' frustration over the alternative schools intensified this year.

Charter school opponents are aggressively lobbying for a moratorium on new schools and for a new financing formula to lessen the impact on existing schools.

Supporters say charter schools give parents an alternative to low-performing schools and spur innovative ways of teaching.