Founder says CREATE Charter School closing after 10 years is both bitter and sweet

Saturday, July 03, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The hallways are empty and the lights are off at CREATE Charter School, which closed its doors for the last time Wednesday.

The Jersey City school district has already changed the locks in anticipation of opening a new school in the Lembeck Avenue building in September after the state declined to renew CREATE's charter.

The charter school's last class of 64 seniors graduated June 18. The students' last day was June 23 and the last staff members left Wednesday.

Steve Lipski, a former city councilman and the school's founder, said after 10 years of educating students the closing is bittersweet.

"The bitterness is we were making progress with the kids. For those kids there's really no other choice but to go back to where they didn't want to be in the beginning," he said.

"On the other hand, where it's sweet, we tried to come in and raise the bar and raise standards. The board is now looking to come in and continue that if not do it better."

CREATE's roughly 300 middle and high school students will return to the Jersey City district.

State Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler declined to renew the school's charter, citing poor student performance, failure to complete state-mandated reports, high staff turnover and failure to provide a structured learning environment, among other things.

Lipski fought the allegations, saying the state allowed the school to open a middle school only two years ago. He said state Department of Education officials never took issue with test scores or other things prior to this year.

While Lipski doesn't blame Schundler - the former Jersey City mayor became commissioner in the middle of the state's review of the charter - he does take issue with the decision.

"This decision was arbitrary and capricious and shouldn't have happened, but it did and we don't have the juice to change it," he said.

Jersey City Superintendent Charles Epps plans to open Infinity Institute at the site, a school-of-choice for the district's brightest middle and high school students. The admissions test was administered Monday.

Lipski pissed himself - He sure knows how to look after the educational needs of kids - We should have him on the BoE



What's the bet he gets a job at Cityhall ?

Lipsky must be pissed!

State Education Commissioner Schundler rejects Jersey City's CREATE School appeal

Monday, April 26, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

No second chances for CREATE Charter School in Jersey City.

In a stinging rebuke to the pleas of school officials for reconsideration of an initial decision to shut the 373-student Lembeck Avenue school at the end of June, State Education Commissioner Bret Schundler has told school leaders he's not changing his mind.

In an April 15 letter to CREATE Board President Stephen Stamos, Schundler reaffirms the state will not renew the charter due to poor student performance, failure to complete state-mandated reports, high staff turnover and failure to provide a structured learning environment, among other things.

"The school schedule presented to the department did not demonstrate that the school was offering sufficient courses to allow students to be accepted for college admissions," Schundler wrote.

In response to the argument made by CREATE founder and former Jersey City councilman Steve Lipski, among others, that other schools in the area have performed worse on state tests, Schundler responded:

"While your assertion may be correct, CREATE Charter High School is still not performing at proficient levels."

The letter by Schundler - a former Jersey City mayor and the founder of the city's Golden Door Charter School - came after an April 6 informal meeting among Stamos, Lipski, staff from the state Office of Charter Schools and state Assistant Commissioner of Education Rochelle Hendricks, who oversees the Division of District and School Improvement.

Rich Vesspucci, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the meeting was not part of a formal reconsideration process.

Lipski and the board's attorney Eugene Paolino could not be reached for comment.

CREATE opened as a high school on Lembeck Avenue with a four-year charter in 2001 and was renewed for five years July 1, 2005.

Last year, the state Department of Education allowed the school to add a middle school component.

There are 279 students enrolled at CREATE's high school and 94 in CREATE's middle school, school representatives said.

The school board will now have to develop a transition plan to close the school.

James Lane, a history teacher, had hoped to keep the middle school open independent of the high school.

"We were hoping that there was a way to make a movement with the state to just reduce the size of the original charter, but it doesn't look like that's possible," Lane said. "It's a shame."

Speak NJ interviewed Steve Lipski on the closing of CREATE Charter School. The show airs Monday, channel 51 10:30 and Tuesdays 9:00.

CREATE Charter School from Speak NJ on Vimeo.

this is kind of interesting...at least it seems to directly refute the atrocious stats that were reported.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPfvOuc1gc4

Quote:
See what happens when you don't do your homework, this is why Johnny can't read.

Charter schools are public schools. These kids must prepare for "district" schools.

Jersey City's CREATE Charter School, told by state to close in June, must prepare students for public schools

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
March 04, 2010, 7:00AM

CREATE Charter School in Jersey City will close on June 30.
Trustees of CREATE Charter School in Jersey City must develop a transition plan for students now that the school has been told it's closing on June 30.

Following a lengthy review process, Acting Education Commissioner Bret Schundler notified the school in a March 1 letter that its charter won't be renewed.

"We expect them to coordinate a smooth transition of students from a charter school to the public schools," state Department of Education spokesman Rich Vespucci said, speaking in general terms about charter school closures.
Vespucci said a public school district could take over a charter school, but it would no longer be a charter school, because there is no charter.

"Anytime a school closes anywhere it potentially is an opportunity for the public schools to consider whether they want to keep that school intact," he said.

Jersey City Superintendent of Schools Charles T. Epps Jr. could not be reached for comment.

In his letter, Schundler -- a former Jersey City mayor who founded the Golden Door Charter School in Jersey City -- cited a failure to meet goals, staffing issues and poor performance on standardized tests as reasons for shutting the school.

The letter states just 4.8 percent of the school's senior class was proficient in Language Arts last year and only 2.7 percent was proficient in math.

In a statement Tuesday, Stephen Stamos, the president of the school's board of trustees, said the state's decision is "incorrect on both factual and legal grounds."
The board can contest the decision with the state Superior Court Appellate Division.

The school is run by former Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski, who didn't seek re-election last year after he was charged with urinating on fellow concertgoers at a Washington, D.C., bar in November 2008. He later admitted having a drinking problem and said he was seeking help.
There are 279 students enrolled at CREATE's high school and 94 in CREATE's middle school, according to the board's attorney Eugene Paolino.

The school pays $400,000 annually in rent, according to the 2008-09 annual report it submitted to the state.

Now Lipski and Schundler have something in common. Both have founded failed or failing charter schools.

"The letter notes that only 4.8 percent of the school's senior class were proficient in language arts last year and just 2.7 percent were proficient in math."


This is not real good, right?

If any parents or students want to comment on the closure please contact me -- mhayes@jjournal.com.

Jersey City's CREATE charter school told by state to close at end of June

Wednesday, March 03, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Citing a failure to meet goals, staffing issues and poor performance on standardized tests, the state Department of Education is closing CREATE Charter School in Jersey City as of June 30.

"The charter includes a number of goals for which the school has not provided evidence of success," Acting Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler wrote in a March 1 letter to Stephen Stamos, president of the school's Board of Trustees.

The letter notes that only 4.8 percent of the school's senior class were proficient in language arts last year and just 2.7 percent were proficient in math.

Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor who is awaiting a confirmation vote of the full Senate, said the school sought to renew its charter in October.

While he was mayor, Schundler opened the Golden Door Charter School in the city and has been a champion of the alternative, publicly funded schools. The closing of CREATE represents one of his first official acts as commissioner.

"The school has been under review for some time by the Department of Education," Schundler said yesterday afternoon. "This is the end of that process."

The school is run by former Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski, who didn't seek re-election last year after he was charged with urinating on fellow concert-goers at a Washington, D.C., bar in November 2008. He later admitted having a drinking problem and said he was seeking help.

Lipski did not return phone calls for comment and the school was closed yesterday afternoon.

In a statement released by the school's attorney, Eugene Paolino, board president Stamos said: "We believe the decision of the acting commissioner is incorrect on both factual and legal grounds.

"Accordingly, the board intends to continue discussions with the Department of Education and take whatever appropriate steps are advisable to insure the continued good work of CREATE," he adde

Boy that lipski really pissed away his career.

Schundler: CREATE Charter School in Jersey City will be closed June 30

By Ken Thorbourne/The Jersey Journal
March 02, 2010, 2:33PM

Acting state education commissioner Bret Schundler, shown here being sworn in to testify at his Senate Judiciary

Committee confirmation hearing, has sent letter to CREATE Charter School in Jersey City telling school officials there the school will be closed as of June 30, 2010.

Acting state education commissioner and former Jersey City mayor Bret Schundler has confirmed the state is not renewing the charter for CREATE Charter School in Jersey City and the school will cease operations by June 30.

Schundler, who is awaiting a confirmation vote of the full Senate, said the wheels were put in motion to close the school way before Gov. Chris Christie appointed him education boss.

"The school has been under review for some time by the Department of Education," Schundler said this afternoon. "This is the end of that process."

The school opened as a high school in 2001 and was allowed by the Department of Education to expand to a middle school last year.

The school is run by former Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski, who didn't run for re-election last year following an incident in November 2008 in which he urinated on concert-goers at a Grateful Dead Tribute Band concert in Washington, DC.

Lipski subsequently confessed to having a drinking problem and pledged to clean up his act. He could not be immediately reached about the closing of his school.

State Department of Education officials said they are making the letter sent to the school public this afternoon.

Stephen Stamos, board president of CREATE charter school released this statement this afternoon:

"The Board of Trustees of CREATE Charter School was notified yesterday, March 1, 2010, by newly appointed Acting Commissioner of Education, Bret Schundler, that its charter will not be renewed by the Department of Education, effective as of June 30, 2010.

"We believe the decision of the Acting Commissioner is incorrect on both factual and legal grounds. Accordingly the Board intends to continue discussions with the Department of Education and take whatever appropriate steps are advisable to insure the continued good work of CREATE."