Charter seeks freedom from Gardiner's web

Northwood Academy Charter School is Brien N. Gardiner's

other

charter school.

Since the scandal erupted at Philadelphia Academy Charter School in April, Northwood has been trying to extricate itself from Gardiner, his associates, and the business entities he created.

Nonetheless, Northwood, an elementary school with 775 students at two sites, has been drawn into the widening federal criminal investigation of Gardiner and other former top administrators at Philadelphia Academy.

Northwood received a federal subpoena for school records in May. Additional subpoenas sought documents related to its buildings.

Gardiner, who founded Philadelphia Academy in 1999, opened Northwood in 2005 to relieve overcrowding at Carnell Elementary School.

For a time, Gardiner, a former district principal, was chief executive officer at both schools. But he exercised unusual control over Northwood.

All but one of the six Northwood board members listed in the charter's 2007 annual report to the state were Philadelphia Academy employees, including president Mary Joscelyne, Gardiner's administrative assistant until he was fired in May. Gardiner's stepdaughter Jessica Klitsch Gardiner was board secretary.

Jessica Klitsch Gardiner taught special education until she was fired in June after the SRC ordered the school to sever all ties with Gardiner, former CEO Kevin M. O'Shea, and their relatives as a condition for renewing its charter.

She has resigned from the Northwood board, and all the remaining Philadelphia Academy employees are being replaced, according to Michael J. McGovern, a lawyer with McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter hired in May to represent Northwood.

McGovern said the district did not pressure the charter to make the changes. He said Northwood CEO Amy Hollister, who was hired in March, and the board opted to make a clean break from Gardiner.

Northwood also is suing to break a lease with one of Gardiner's companies, Philadelphia Academy Services.

In a complaint filed in Common Pleas Court last month, Northwood alleges that the lease of a building on Bustleton Avenue for a satellite campus in August 2007 was illegal and obtained through fraud.

Northwood claims that its board did not approve the lease and that Gardiner's nonprofit was required to make improvements to qualify for an occupancy permit.

The improvements were never made, and an occupancy permit was never issued.

The complaint also alleges that Gardiner's dual roles gave him power to dictate the lease terms, including making the charter responsible for all repairs. Northwood charges that the scheme was intended to make Northwood pay for substantial renovations so the building later could be sold to improperly benefit Philadelphia Academy Services, Gardiner and O'Shea.

Northwood vacated the building this summer after learning of defective plumbing, mold and exposed asbestos. McGovern said the 170 students were moved from Bustleton to a former Catholic school at Penn and Church Streets this fall.

In documents filed in response to the Northwood suit, lawyer Kenneth M. Dubrow says Philadelphia Academy Services' board has "ceased operating" and all five members "informally" resigned after the investigations began. He's seeking a delay until Orphans' Court approves a new board.

Documents list the former board members: Gardiner; his wife, Colleen; her daughter Jessica Klitsch Gardiner; O'Shea, and Yvonne D'Angelo McGinley. McGinley, a principal with Charter School Choice Inc., which last year handled the financial management at Philadelphia Academy, said she was never on the board.