A deal to close two Philly charters is struck three days before school starts, leaving ‘an active crisis for children’

A deal was finalized Friday to close two troubled West Philadelphia charter schools — one immediately, one at the end of the year.

The Philadelphia school board gave its blessing to the plan, closing Daroff Charter School, at 57th and Vine, right away. Bluford Charter, at 57th and Media, will absorb some Daroff students, but it does not have room for all 1,000 children the two schools once educated.

“I’m concerned that layers and layers of adults have failed children, with good intentions,” board member Lisa Salley said. “I know that a lot of good will come of this, but right now, we have an active crisis with children.”

Bluford will now open Sept. 6 instead of Monday. District staff will be working throughout the weekend to help parents with the enrollment process: Bluford and Daroff students can enroll at other district schools, or secure places at other charters with room.

Both Bluford and Daroff are former Philadelphia School District schools that were given to Universal Companies Inc. in 2010 to dramatically improve student achievement. The hoped-for gains were not realized, and the schools’ charters were not renewed. Universal fought the nonrenewals, but ultimately ended its contract with both Bluford and Daroff in July.

Subsequently, the combined Bluford-Daroff board said it would operate the schools independently, but failed to find a management company or hire enough teachers to staff both schools. District officials also said they had serious health and safety concerns about the buildings.

Bluford and Daroff have now agreed to forfeit any appeals, and the combined board has acknowledged the district has the right to close Bluford immediately, before the end of the year, if health and safety violations are found.

Parent Keisha Barham, whose son was supposed to enter first grade at Bluford on Monday, said the experience had shaken her. Families were not notified of any potential changes at the school until June, but they were given assurances that school would open Aug. 29 under a different management company.

“I’m lost,” Barham said. “Just lost. I don’t know what to do at this point. Every time you turn around, it’s different information.”

Philadelphia school board member Cecelia Thompson said the damage has been done to hundreds of families in a vulnerable neighborhood — people who had scrimped to buy school uniforms, constructed careful child-care and transportation plans, and must now go back to the drawing board.

“I want to extend an apology to the families and to the children that they had to find this out at the last minute,” Thompson said.

Students living in the Bluford and Daroff attendance zones have been invited to enroll at Barry, Rhoads, Cassidy, and Hamilton, district schools with space. Bryant, McMichael, Gompers, MYA, and Powel also have space, and the district would provide transportation to interested families.

Representatives from the offices of student enrollment, transportation, special services, and family and community engagement offices will be working throughout the weekend, stationed at the Haverford Library at 56th and Haverford, to help families enroll their students at new schools.

Officials will also be on hand at both Bluford and Daroff buildings on Monday if families show up. Grab-and-go meals will be available for school families at the nearby Sheppard Recreation Center, and the district is making emergency provisions for unaccompanied children who might show up at the school on Monday.

Bluford has 417 students enrolled, and Daroff had 550. As of Friday morning, about 100 families from both charters had opted to move their children to district schools.

If more Daroff students attempt to enroll at Bluford than the building can accommodate, a lottery will be held, with preference given to students who require special-education services, those with DHS involvement, or experiencing homelessness.

District staff have worked intensively to support affected families, and will continue to do so, they said.

“We’ve seen how emotional this can be,” said Alicia Prince, the school district’s chief of staff. “People are distraught. We know how hard it is to move out of a school community.”

But speakers at Friday’s board meeting said there was plenty of blame to go around for the schools’ failure, from the former School Reform Commission, who gave the schools away under the old Renaissance Charter model, to Universal, the district, and the combined charter board.

“Consider this a cautionary tale,” said Lynda Rubin, a retired district educator and member of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools.

Dana Carter, a member of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee, said all charters should have a closing plan going forward.

“Parents were fooled,” Carter said.

“I do hope ... we have a lesson learned from this. I don’t want the situation happening again, but if this does, we are better prepared in our coordination going forward,” Thompson said.

Thompson and Salley voted against the closure agreements. The measure passed, 7-2.