The public will not be allowed to speak at eight public hearings that have been scheduled regarding the future of Gillingham Charter School, Pottsville, according to an attorney from Allentown who’s been appointed as the hearing officer.
However, people who want to be heard will have 30 days from the date of the last scheduled hearing, May 3, to write a letter with comments to that attorney, Marc S. Fisher from the firm Worth, Magee & Fisher Law Offices.
“The public will be given a chance to make comment in the form of written testimony. At the conclusion of the hearings, I anticipate there will be a 30-day comment period for the public. I anticipate they will send it to me, but that hasn’t been fully decided. It will be established by the start of the first hearing,” Fisher said Thursday.
On Dec. 2, the Pottsville Area school board rejected Gillingham’s application for a second five-year charter.
In accordance with the Public School Code of 1949, Article XVII-A, Charter Schools, Section 1729-A, subsection (c), the school district must hold a public hearing “concerning the revocation or nonrenewal.”
On Tuesday, Pottsville Area Superintendent Jeffrey S. Zwiebel announced the dates of the hearings regarding Gillingham’s charter renewal application. They will be held at 9:30 a.m. April 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27 and May 3 in the auditorium of the D.H.H. Lengel Middle School.
Then, according to the school code: “Formal action revoking or not renewing a charter shall be taken by the local board of school directors at a public meeting pursuant to the act of July 3, 1986 (P.L.388, No.84), known as the ‘Sunshine Act,’ after the public has had thirty (30) days to provide comments to the board.”
On Tuesday, Zwiebel referred all questions about the hearings to the two attorneys Pottsville Area hired to support the district through Gillingham’s rechartering process.
In May 2015, the school board hired Ellen C. Schurdak, a representative of King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul Attorneys & Counselors, Bethlehem, on an as-needed basis at a rate of $185 per hour.
On Jan. 20, the school board hired Fisher as a hearing officer and fact finder at a rate of $185 per hour.
“A hearing schedule was agreed to by the hearing officer and counsel for the charter school and the school district,” Schurdak said in an email Wednesday. But she could not answer questions about the format of the hearings.
The format
“They’re scheduled for full-day hearings, at least at the moment,” Fisher said.
Each hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. There will be a break about noon, and the hearings will end each day about 4 or 5 p.m., “depending on where we are with witnesses,” Fisher said.
“The format is decided by the hearing officer, however, typically a school district presents its witnesses who are subject to cross-examination and after concluding its case, a charter school can present witnesses, who are subject to cross-examination,” Schurdak said in the email.
“The school district would go first, followed by Gillingham. And there will be an official court stenographer present,” Fisher said.
Fisher was not sure how many days Pottsville Area will present its case and how much time Gillingham would have to present its case.
“I have no idea. It’s up to Pottsville and Gillingham, and how long they want to go,” Fisher said.
Fisher said the parties are still assembling their expert witnesses.
Fisher offered insights into his duties: “Right now, I know nothing of the underlying dispute between the parties. I will run the hearing. I’ll make a report and a recommendation to the school board. And ultimately, it’s the school board who will decide this case, not me. They’re free to accept my recommendations or object my recommendations, or accept and reject such parts as they deem fit.”
Fisher wasn’t sure Thursday when his report would be complete or how long it would be.
“It will depend on the length of the testimony, whether they’ve agreed on certain facts or not, and what the actual legal issues are in the end,” Fisher said.
Fisher said his report will become public: “It will become a public report, but the exact process in which that will occur, I really haven’t thought through yet.”
The attorneys
A brief biography for Fisher is available on his firm’s website at www.worthlawoffices.com: “Marc S. Fisher brings to the firm over 30 years of experience handling all aspects of family law, school law and municipal and zoning law. He obtained his law degree from the Villanova University School of Law in 1982. He is also a cum laude graduate from Brandeis University where he received a bachelor of arts degree. Marc chairs the firm’s family law division and specializes in divorce, support, property division and custody issues. He also represents school districts and townships, and is a licensed title agent. Marc has served as an adjunct professor in the Master’s In Education Program at DeSales University. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Pennsylvania School Solicitors Association and the Lehigh and Carbon County Bar Associations. He is also a member of the board of directors of Lehigh Valley Children’s Center Inc. and Temple Beth El.”
A brief biography of Schurdak is available on her firm’s website at www.kingspry.com: “Ellen C. Schurdak focuses her practice on all aspects of litigation. She is a member of the Education Law Practice Group, Family Law Practice Group, Employment Law Practice Group, Litigation Practice Group and Estate Planning and Trusts Practice Group. Ms. Schurdak prides herself in her communication skills with her clients: she is able to explain what can be a daunting, complex legal process in simple terms. She offers her clients choices. Ms. Schurdak is prepared to zealously represent her client, whether it be in a courtroom, arguing in a mediation session, arbitration or to an appellate court.” Schurdak earned undergraduate degrees at Fairfield University in Connecticut and the London School of Economics and her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, according to the site.
Gillingham has employed attorneys from the firm Latsha Davis & McKenna, Mechanicsburg, for help with the rechartering process. Attorney Christine Elizabeth Reilly receives $200 per hour and attorney Mark G. Morford receives $235 per hour, Rachel Bensinger, the school’s director of organizational development, said Wednesday.
The legal fees will come out of Gillingham’s general fund, Nicolle M. Hutchinson, Gillingham’s CEO and director of education, said Wednesday.
A brief biography of Reilly is available on the firm’s website at www.ldylaw.com: “Christine Reilly is a member of Education and Employment Practice groups. She concentrates in employment law and education law, focusing on litigation, administrative proceedings, appellate cases and special education matters. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Reilly worked for a litigation firm specializing in employment and civil rights matters, such as discrimination and wrongful termination cases. She has litigated dozens of cases in both state and federal courts, and before administrative agencies including the New Jersey Division on civil rights, PHRC and EEOC.” Reilly earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and her law degree from Villanova University School of Law, according to the site.
A brief biography of Morford is also available on the site: “Mark G. Morford is a member of the Education, Employment and Litigation practice groups. He concentrates his practice in the areas of charter school law and civil litigation. He has appeared before various school district boards, the State Charter School Appeal Board, various Courts of Common Pleas, and the Commonwealth Court on behalf of charter school clients. Prior to his association with the firm, Mr. Morford served as a trial court and appellate court law clerk in Washington state, as a prosecutor in Washington state, and as a civil litigation attorney in Boston, Massachusetts.” Morford earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Gonzaga University and his law degree from University of Washington School of Law, according to the site.
Looking ahead
Hutchinson has asked numerous questions about how long the rechartering process could take and how it could affect Gillingham’s 2016-17 school year.
“I’ve been warned that it takes time. And if Pottsville Area still chooses to deny our charter, we have 30 days to appeal to the CAB,” Hutchinson said, referring to the Charter School Appeal Board, Harrisburg.
If the rechartering process continues into the 2016-17 school year, she believes Gillingham will open for its sixth school year sometime in the end of August or in early September.
“I’ve asked these kind of questions and talked to people who have been involved in this and they have no answer for me. It’s different in so many different ways for different cases. It depends on what happens, if it moves into the summer and into the fall. We anticipate that ours might go into the fall. What I’ve been told is that if the appeal is taking place during a school year, the school still remains open. That’s what I’m anticipating will happen,” Hutchinson said.