AG seeks order to close school

The state attorney general sought a judge's order yesterday to close a Roxbury charter school that has been operating illegally since the Department of Education revoked its charter last week.

The Roxbury Charter High Public School's last day was supposed to be Friday, but it reopened Monday without a charter, which the attorney general said violated state law.

A hearing on the attorney general's lawsuit is scheduled for Wednesday at the Suffolk County Superior Court. The attorney general's office had sent the school a letter Wednesday threatening to sue if it didn't close by the end of the day yesterday. The school, however, held classes, and school officials vowed yesterday to keep it open indefinitely.

''This school has failed to meet the basic standards set by the state and is now operating without a charter and without funding," Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said in a statement. ''The school administrators and its trustees have had ample time to prepare for this, but instead have chosen to ignore the Department of Education's decision. Unfortunately, we now have kids and parents caught in the middle."

The state, which decided to close the school because it was near bankruptcy and had management problems, will not shutter the school by force, said Heidi Perlman, an education department spokeswoman.

''Officially these kids are truants right now, and the adults are just stringing them along," Perlman said.

But ''we're not going in with the National Guard. We're not going to padlock the door. . . . These kids just need to get on with their education."

School officials contend they are operating as a private school for the time being, even though they have not received approval to do so from the Boston School Committee, as required by law.

The school, by Monday, plans to appeal the state's decision to close it, said Bill Owens, a former state senator and current chairman of the school's board of trustees.

At its peak, the school had more than 100 students; school officials would not say how many are there now.

''There is a group of young people here that needs to be served, and we want to continue to serve them," Owens said.

Another board member said that if the school does not get its charter back, it will try to convert to a permanent private school.

Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com.