City’s First Charter School Faces ADA, Fundraising Dilemma
by Chris Dovi
Fundraising for the Patrick Henry School is going well, say supporters, but the School Board is growing concerned about its ADA compliance. Photo by Scott Elmquist
The Richmond Public Schools are blessed with a portfolio of architecturally stunning early-20th-century buildings, but the blessing is also a curse for the upstart charter school organizers working to open the Patrick Henry School for Science and Art.
The school, which plans to reopen the 87-year-old Patrick Henry Elementary building next to Forest Hill Park, is in the midst of a million-dollar drive to cover the cost of its planned opening next fall. The school’s charter president, Debbie Butterworth, says the effort is off to a rousing start despite a depressed economy.
“We have had over $30,000 in donations and those are all just the private, personal donations,” Butterworth says, noting too a $100,000 grant received Sept. 14 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, made possible by the school’s planned eco-friendly curriculum. Butterworth says she’s “confident” the school will receive an additional $300,000 federal charter schools grant, expected to be announced Oct. 28.
But Patrick Henry boosters also face the daunting task of paying for expensive upgrades needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. A letter from the Richmond School Board sent Aug. 31 expresses that board’s concerns about the charter school’s ability to meet that challenge.
Kim Gray, vice chairwoman of the school board, says she supports the efforts at Patrick Henry but worries about the fundraising. It’s unclear whether that federal money for programs could be used for ADA-related capital improvements, she says.
“What I’m not in support of is if we were forced to take money out of the ADA funds we get from the city to bring that building into compliance,” Gray says.
David Hopper, a lawyer who represents parents of disabled schoolchildren in a 2006 lawsuit settlement that requires Richmond schools to meet basic ADA requirements, is also concerned. “If they bring a building on line, then they’ve got to comply [with ADA],” Hopper says.
Not a problem, Butterworth says: “We’re fully confident that we can meet the ADA requirements.” She says school organizers are well into the process of securing architectural designs for a wheelchair lift that will be installed before the first day of school. Plans for an elevator would follow in the second year, she says, to replace the lift.
Saturday, September 19, 2009 4:17:54 PM by anonymous
Interesting. If this ever actually school opens, couldn't they just say that kids with disabilities have to go to "other schools," just the way that Richmond Public Schools has sent kids with disabilities to "other schools" for years? Obviously, this settlement agreement doesn't really matter since the plaintiffs aren't really asking the courts to enforce it. Lots of "talk," but very little action.
Richmond must have the most patient federal judges in the nation. Pity. The kids with disabilities and their families keep waiting for something to happen, how long are we supposed to keep waiting?
If the School Board insists that this school be ADA accessible, shouldn't the plaintiffs and the judges hold the school board accountable for their promises that haven't been met? This whole mess just seems so long and drawn-out and, well, pointless if the plaintiffs and the judges aren't going to enforce the law. Why punish this little school and let the school system get away with doing the bare minimum?
Friday, September 18, 2009 9:15:46 AM by Carol A.O. Wolf
Apparently, some Richmonders love to think that decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives do not apply to them.
The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed in 1990 and became law in 1992. This past July 26, marked the 17th Anniversary of the ADA becoming law. We have yet to comply.
Further, it has been 54 years since the unanimous Brown vs. Board of Education decision that said segregation in the public schools could not continue. Our schools remain bastions of de facto segregation and we have yet to comply with the law.
The ADA is the law. How can we truly consider ourselves good citizens respecting the laws of the City, Commonwealth and the United States, if we tolerate such blatant defiance of the law?
Friday, September 18, 2009 12:54:51 AM by Anonymous
Richmonders love beating dead horses no wonder nothing ever gets done in this city.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 1:59:39 PM by Vicki
The other schools are complying with a settlement agreement for ADA of which Patrick Henry was not included because it was being pulled off line at the time of the settlement. Well, now that it is going to open up as a "charter/magnet" school, then they must be madeADA accessilbe. So the old theroy that "why should I have to if you don't have to" doens't work here. When the doors open to Patrick Henry Charter School, all citizens should have a right to enter the blding. Period!
Regarding Kim Gray's worry about ADA funds, if the school system had updated all the buildings years ago when they were supposed to, this would not be an issue. How many of the other RPS schools comply, now, with ADA? Darn few. Why should Patrick Henry have its ADA ducks in a row when the other schools are so far from compliance?
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 4:08:55 PM by Scott Burger
It's too bad Richmond has wasted so much of its money on Center Stage when it is clear that Richmond public school buildings are suffering. Remember when City of the Future was about renovating school buildings? I hope people hold City Council accountable in the next round of elections.
