Gloucester charter school approval faulted

However, Colin Zick, an attorney who represents Gloucester Community Arts, said he disputed the inspector general's interpretation of the rules and regulations and believes the commissioner does have the authority to overrule his own in-house specialists. "This does not automatically revoke the charter," said Zick, who had not yet seen the letter.

The inspector general's office plans to release a report on its findings to the two legislators who requested it, Senator Bruce Tarr and Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante.

In his letter, Sullivan said that Mitchell Chester, the commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, recommended approval of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School last February in violation of the agency's own rules and regulations, which he says forbids a commissioner from giving a favorable recommendation against the advice of his own experts.

The department's charter school office determined a few weeks before the board's vote that the school's application did not meet the approval criteria.

Chester's favorable recommendation has been a lightning rod since a politically charged e-mail surfaced in September about the approval of the Gloucester charter school, and comes at a time when the Legislature is considering a sweeping education bill that is the cornerstone of Governor Deval Patrick's education agenda.

In the e-mail, dated Feb. 5, one day after the charter school office rejected all three charter school applications for last year, Education Secretary Paul Reville told Chester that the rejections could cause problems for the governor in getting his education agenda approved by the Legislature by alienating charter school supporters.

"Our reality is that we have to show some sympathy in this group of charters or we'll get permanently labeled as hostile and that will cripple us with a number of key, moderate allies," such as the Globe's editorial page and the Boston Foundation, Reville wrote.

"It's a tough but necessary pill to swallow," he wrote.

Chester has repeatedly said that politics played no role in his recommendation, while Reville has said his e-mail has been taken out of context from an ongoing conversation with the commissioner and that he did not lobby any board members to vote favorably on the application.

Today's letter did not mention the e-mail controversy.

Sullivan, who was not available for comment today, said in the letter that he did not believe that Chester intentionally violated the rules and regulations. Instead, he believes Chester was unaware of the pertinent provisions in the rules.

"It is clear from the record and from interviews that he acted under the mistaken belief that the [charter school office] review process was an advisory one and that the commissioner was unilaterally responsible for making the decision about charter recommendations," Sullivan wrote.

Today's determination pleased Patrick, who has repeatedly asked the state board to undo its approval of the Gloucester charter school to restore public confidence in the process.

"While the governor has confidence in the commissioner and the board, he has been consistent and clear that review of the Gloucester charter required more transparency and has twice asked the board to restart its process and reconsider its decision," said Kimberly Haberlin, a governor's spokeswoman. "His view has not changed. Since this charter was granted, the board has tightened its regulations regarding charter school applications."

The Gloucester charter school has been intensely controversial in the city since the proposal was initially unveiled roughly a year and a half ago, primarily because it would cause the city to lose a big chunk of state education aid to the charter school.

Under state law, students who leave a school district for a charter school take with them thousands of dollars in state aid. In the case of Gloucester, that amount could reach $2.4 million annually when the school is in full operation.

Greg Verga, a city councilor who was School Committee chairman last year, called the inspector general's determination a "vindication" of long-held beliefs that the state board did not follow its own procedures in approving the charter school.