UPDATE: Sept. 1, 11:45 a.m.
On Thursday, Sept. 1, charter school nonprofit Aspira issued a statement responding to comments made by parent Rhonda Coleman, who said she was not notified that Olney High School would transition from a charter to a district-run school:
"Aspira, Inc. notified stakeholders in June that Olney Charter High School would return to the School District of Philadelphia on July 1. Prior to that, the former Olney Charter High School Board of Trustees had frequently communicated to families and other stakeholders about the School District of Philadelphia’s Board of Education vote to non-renew Olney’s charter."
The original story follows
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — At Olney High, the transition from charter back to a district-run school created a crush of first-day-of-school registrations.
“I do anticipate probably 200 to 300 students showing up today that aren’t registered,” Principal Mike Roth said Monday morning. “We have a whole chain of command of how we have to process those students and get them registered.”
In just the last week, Roth estimated they have enrolled about 250 students.
“That doesn’t include the students that are still in process because paperwork has to be reviewed, vaccination information, addresses,” he noted.
After 11 years as a charter school operated by the nonprofit Aspira, the School District of Philadelphia this fall regained control of Olney High and Stetson Middle schools.
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“We didn’t get an email from the charter school to tell us about the transition,” said Rhonda Coleman, who arrived at Olney High at 7:30 a.m. to register her son. “I looked online to try to find out about the registration. I found nothing. So here I am on the first day.”
About 500 students were registered before the first day of school. Roth understands the confusion. He said if people try to search online for “Olney High School,” results for “Olney Charter High School” still come up.
“It’s been a little difficult because I’ve emailed Google multiple times to try to get our information hanged,” said Roth. “That hasn’t happened. I’ve been doing it throughout the summer.”
While the district has an Olney transition page on its website, Olney High isn’t yet listed in the district’s online school directory.
Roth said the school has been using social media to inform parents about registration.
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Meanwhile, Olney students were experiencing their first day at a school under new management. Freshman Dominic Sturgis was among the first students to arrive for the day.
“I’m a little nervous because it’s my first day in a new school,” he said. “I don’t really know nobody.”
Matt, who didn’t want to give his last name, was an Olney Charter junior last year. “A couple of my friends actually aren’t coming back because they don’t like the whole change with the whole Olney going public and stuff like that,” he said.
One change students will notice is posters of last year’s students in the hallways, to give returning students a sense of continuity.
Despite the registration challenges, Roth shared the students’ first-day jitters. “I’m almost like a student. I’m excited and I’m a little bit nervous!”
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