Top, Jill Barrett (center) administrator of the Antelope Valley Desert Montessori Charter Schools, wipes away tears as lawyers finalize a settlement agreement between her school and the Gorman Elementary School District Board of Trustees November 13. She said she was urged to open the charter school by Gorman School Superintendent/Principal Sue Page. The Gorman District received fees from the state education fund?s allocation to Barrett?s school, which has five times more students than Gorman Elementary. The Gorman board revoked her school?s charter and the state cut off funding in July, 2007. Bottom, Attorney Jeff Schwartz stands with his clients, Jill Barrett and the employees of the Antelope Valley Desert Montessori Charter School, in front of Gorman School November 13.
By Patric Hedlund and Gary Meyer
When Jill Barrett of Antelope Valley Desert Montessori Charter Schools (AVDMCS) phoned The Mountain Enterprise to ask whether a reporter would be present at the Gorman Elementary School District’s (GESD) board meeting November 13, she said, "It’s going to be a doozey!"
Barrett was accurate. Her charter school had sued GESD for the way the board had revoked AVDMCS’s charter, a move which caused the state to cease payments to Barrett’s school, forcing her to pay expenses for the 225-student charter out of her own pocket and by taking personal loans since July.
Barrett came to the Gorman District’s board meeting flanked by legal counsel and nine of her school employees to argue for her school’s survival. Another suit, a class action suit on behalf of students whose schooling was being interrupted, had also been filed.
The Gorman District’s position has been that the Antelope Valley charter had not maintained good records. GESD was already in hot water for the allegedly sensational mismanagement by another of their charters, Gorman Learning Center, which may be asked to repay $7.6 million.
Barrett said that she had complied with all the district’s requests but that the trustees and Superintendent Sue Page were not responding to the charter’s invitation to visit the school for oversight the district was receiving fees to provide.
The Gorman School District board twice went into closed session on Tuesday, Nov. 13. The usually sparsely attended board meeting was surging with dialogue among the many spectators and lawyers. At the end of the board meeting, the trustees returned and the district’s business manager, Karen Kingsley, read a statement offering to settle the suit.
AVDMCS accepted the offer. The school will continue as a charter of Gorman Elementary School District. It is expected that they will be reimbursed for outlay incurred since July.
This is part of the November 23, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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