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: Charter school on probation 

: Lipski's C.R.E.A.T.E. must submit plan to fix administrative issues 

: Tuesday, January 11, 2005
: By Earl Morgan
: Journal staff writer 

: The charter school run by Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski has been put on probation by the state Department of Education until it formulates a five-year plan to address "administrative, academic and governance activities" that a state monitoring team said needed either correction or improvement 

: Lipski, who serves as director of the C.R.E.A.T.E. Charter High School in Jersey City, said he intends to take a written plan to Trenton personally to present to state officials. 

:  
: "I've got an appointment to meet with Rochelle Hendricks, who heads DOE's Office of Innovative programs that oversees charter schools in the state, to discuss our plan," Lipski said. 

: Reached for comment, Hendricks said that the probation resulted from a review that is conducted at all charter schools every four years. The review, the first for the four-year-old school, was done the week of Oct. 14. 

: If the school does not adequately address the problems found by the state review, it could be shut down. The state has until March 17 to decide whether or not to revoke C.R.E.A.T.E.'s charter and shut it down. 

: Hendricks said her office believes the staff has the means, with the help of her department, to correct the problems uncovered during the review. 

: State officials conducted the on-site review of the school, located at 164 Lembeck Ave. in a building that formerly housed the St. Paul's Greenville Elementary Parochial School, in October and issued a letter detailing its findings on Dec. 17. 

: That letter contained a list of 18 items to be corrected by the school, including complying with state bidding statutes, providing detailed financial summaries to its seven-member board, obtaining board approval before making payments to vendors for goods and services, and complying with the open public meetings act. 

: One item on the list directed the school to "comply with board procedures in personnel matters" and made reference to the termination of the school's business administrator, noting that the termination required a majority of votes from the board. 

: When the business administrator was terminated he wrote a letter to the DOE making a number of allegations about the financial operations of the school. Hendricks acknowledged receiving the letter but said the review in October is standard procedure for all charter schools 

: Lipski provided The Jersey Journal with a five-page corrective plan he said covers "98 percent of the issues raised by the on-site review." 

: C.R.E.A.T.E. is Jersey City's only charter high school. Charter schools receive 90 percent of their funding through local school boards but are not accountable to those boards. Instead, they have their own governing boards. 

: They still must adhere to most, but not all, of the regulations governing traditional public schools. 

: According to state regulations, C.R.E.A.T.E. must make the probation notice public at its board's next meeting, Jan. 19. Lipski said the revised five-year plan also will be made public during next Wednesday's meeting. 

: Lipski was one of 11 candidates who ran for mayor in the November special election to complete the four-year term of the late Jersey City Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham. 

: Lipski said his candidacy was not a factor in the school being placed on probation. 

: "We have a principal that runs the day-to-day operation here," he said. "We've also hired a new business administrator who is also a certified public accountant." 

: The school, founded by Lipski four years ago, was originally housed in a converted storefront on Martin Luther King Drive. 

: Asked about the school's test scores, Lipski said last year was the first year the school had an 11th grade and that his students scored five points higher in both mathematics and language arts than Snyder High School in the state-mandated High School Proficiency test. 

: Lipski said since most of his students live in Snyder's district, he uses that school as a measuring stick. 

: According to the Hudson County Superintendent of School's Web site, 53.4 percent of Snyder's students scored proficient in language arts and 18.3 percent in math. 

: The state considers 53 percent a passing grade in language arts and 58 percent passing in mathematics. 


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