Philly charter founded by indicted labor leader plans new school at slain developer’s South Kensington site

A charter high school cofounded by indicted labor leader John J. Dougherty plans a new $21.1 million academic building on a South Kensington lot where developer Sean Schellenger had planned apartments with co-working offices for local entrepreneurs before his stabbing death near Rittenhouse Square.

The board of the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a bond issue of up to $30 million to finance the Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter High School (PETCHS) project at 1525 N. American St.

The tax-exempt financing would pay for the $3.6 million acquisition of the half-acre site, along with the school’s construction costs and other expenses related to the deal, said John Grady, president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., which oversees the authority.

The authority’s board approved $22 million in bonds for the project in April, but the larger issue was now being sought “due to higher-than-expected construction costs,” according to the resolution on the agency’s website.

The school, which currently occupies the upper stories of a historic Center City office building, was founded in 2002 by Dougherty, business manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Michael Neill, director of Local 98′s apprentice training program; and Dougherty’s daughter, Erin Dougherty, who serves as the school’s chief executive.

A 2017 Inquirer investigation, which highlighted links between John Dougherty’s inner circle and the charter’s administration, found that the school was not living up to its originally stated mission of graduating students into union apprenticeships, and that its membership rolls were benefiting from the school’s policy of enrolling teachers in the labor group.

Erin Dougherty did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on plans for the new school.

The planned development site is where Schellenger and property investor Sean Frankel had once proposed an apartment building with free ground-floor coworking space for nearby residents to start new businesses, a project they had named “Techadelphia."

Frankel said after the death of Schellenger, who was stabbed during an altercation with a bicycle courier last July, that he was abandoning the Techadelphia plan and selling the property.

The new school is slated to be a 60,000-square-foot building with about 40 classrooms, as well as “a broadcast lab, green space, one or more multimedia rooms, a life skills center, a café, and parking," according to the industrial development authority.

Adriano Calvanese, a vice president overseeing commercial leasing for PMC Property Group, PETCHS’s current landlord at 1420 Chestnut St., said that the school’s lease isn’t due to expire for at least two years, and that the building would be redeveloped when the school departs, most likely into apartments.

PETCHS has been under scrutiny by federal prosecutors as part of a broad investigation of Dougherty and his union since at least 2016, when agents searched Local 98′s headquarters, seeking of a list of items that included financial records of the charter school.

The labor leader and seven co-defendants, including City Councilman Bobby Henon, were charged earlier this year with counts including wire fraud, falsifying records, and accepting illegal payments. The 153-page indictment alleges that Dougherty misappropriated union dues and manpower to award 10 of his family members — none of whom is accused of wrongdoing — with gifts and favors.

Dougherty and his co-defendants have denied the allegations against them.

Although the family members are not named in the complaint, The Inquirer was able to identify Erin Dougherty as the person described as having benefited from free improvements to her home in South Philadelphia, as well as such perks as free steaks and crab cakes delivered to her home.

Others in Dougherty’s orbit who have been involved with the charter include his wife, Cecelia, who served as a board member before stepping down from the unpaid post in July 2014, and nephew George Fiocca III, who is the school’s development head. George Fiocca’s brother, Brian, was among those indicted earlier this year.

Former State Rep. William F. Keller (D., Phila.) and current State Rep. Michael J. Driscoll (D., Phila.), meanwhile, have received support from Local 98 and have sat on the charter board.

The Inquirer’s investigation into PETCHS found that it has no record of any graduates entering Local 98′s apprentice training program, as its founders had originally said was intended in order to diversify the union’s ranks.

The school has since changed its mission to developing students “who will be employable in the emerging high-tech industries, while giving students a strong foundation in the core academic subjects.”

The Inquirer also showed how the school’s unusual practice of enrolling teachers as members of Local 98, rather than an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania, boosts membership and allows dues to be covered by tax payments that support charter school salaries.

PETCHS’s current charter runs through 2022, when it “anticipates a successful renewal,” according to the industrial development authority.