EAST BRUNSWICK — Hatikvah International Charter School is appealing a state decision that denied the K-5 school approval to add sixth-, seventh- and eighthgrade classes.
The Department of Education (DOE)’s chief innovation officer, Evo Popoff, denied the charter school’s expansion request, citing declining student academic performance in the 2012-13 school year, in a March 5 letter addressed to Hatikvah Board of Trustees President Laurie Newell.
According to a motion filed by Hatikvah attorney Thomas Johnston, Popoff’s decision to deny the charter school’s expansion was beyond his authority.
“Popoff’s decision usurped the commissioner’s authority, as he cannot make a renewal decision without duly procured authorization from the commissioner, which did not happen here,” the motion reads.
The motion filed with DOE Commissioner David Hespe further states that Popoff contradicted himself by using the same evidence to arrive at opposing conclusions.
“Specifically, Popoff highlighted Hatikvah’s
‘high level of achievement and the capacity to continue to increase student learning’ [in the letter] as a basis to renew its charter, but determined that a ‘decline’ in the school’s academic performance warranted the limiting of Hatikvah’s enrollment to K-5.”
The motion requests that the commissioner set aside Popoff’s determination to deny the expansion and renew Hatikvah as a K-8 charter program.
The DOE referred the Hatikvah motion to the state’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL); however, the OAL determined that it lacks jurisdiction in the matter and advised that Hatikvah must file an appeal in the Appellate Division of state Superior Court.
Calls seeking comment from Johnston and Newell were not returned.
According to East Brunswick Board of Education member Kevin McEvoy, the board must be aware of what’s going on with the motion and the appeal so that “the taxpayer and the community are aware of the financial burden that the charter school has imposed upon us.”
The district’s state-mandated financial obligation to Hatikvah rose in 2014 by about $456,000 — from $1.85 million to $2.3 million, according to school district Business Administrator Bernardo Giuliana.
“Just this year, maintaining [the school] as a K-5 is going to cost us $400,000. If it expanded, you could imagine what would happen,” Board of Education Attorney Matt Giaccobbe said.
Currently in its fourth year of operation, the K-5 school on Lexington Avenue in East Brunswick educates 273 students from 21 school districts in Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset, Essex, Morris and Mercer counties.