BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Bethlehem Area School District’s administration on Monday recommended that the school board deny a charter school application for Community Charter School of the Arts in Bethlehem.
The K-8 institution is slated to open for the 2027-28 school year, if approved.
Maureen Leeson, BASD assistant superintendent, said the administration recommended that the district deny the application for several reasons.
“BASD already provides a comprehensive and equitable arts education system,” Leeson said. Further, she said the “incorporation of arts programming that CCSA wants to implement is not needed in BASD and is not unique as required by charter law.”
She cited insufficient community and parent support, academic and curricular deficiencies, operational and financial instability, inadequate student support services, and a lack of support-staff infrastructure.
For their part, the applicants took issue with the district’s requirements.
Attorney Daniel Fennick said opponents were “asking you to hold us to an impossible standard of detail, both financially and enrollment and programming,” for a school that is not slated to open for another 18 months.
The hearing, held at East Hills Middle School, was a continuation of the May 27 session, when the school board declined to accept late curriculum submissions from the charter organizers.
The founders previously projected an initial enrollment of up to 1,125 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The proposed school would be housed at 1640-1660 Valley Center Parkway in Hanover Township.
According to landlord Lisa Pektor, tenants including PNC Bank currently occupy 1660 Valley Center Parkway but are in the process of relocating. Delays could affect the school’s opening, however.
The district’s Fountain Hill Elementary School is currently operating at 1640 and 1650 Valley Center Parkway, while a new elementary school is under construction, for example, the applicant said.
The proposed charter school’s academic model pairs STEM subjects with extensive arts integration, including visual arts, dance, music and theater. The proposal also includes a dedicated community arts center within the school framework.
Led by administrators from the Arts Academy Elementary Charter School of Allentown, the project seeks to expand that educational model into Bethlehem with an enhanced academic offering.
“If you want to make education in Bethlehem the best that it can be, this is something that you can have for your students,” Fennick said.
He suggested the district compare its curriculum with the proposal.
“You will see details of the curriculum and the models of the curriculum that the applicant has provided far exceed any of the detail and any of the structure of your own curriculum,” he said.
“Look at the letters of support in the application; you will see enthusiastic endorsements,” Fennick said.
He cited the elementary school’s waiting list of about 300 children as proof that the model is successful.
“It’s because the school works and because the parents know that it works,” he said.
Under Pennsylvania law, local school boards serve as the authorizing bodies for charter schools within their geographic boundaries. The second hearing allowed the board to review the requested curriculum documents and gather additional testimony. The board is expected to vote in July on whether to approve or deny the application.
Also on Monday, the district’s board meeting opened with a ceremony in which Renato Lajara was sworn in to succeed retiring Superintendent Jack Silva.
Renato Lajara will succeed retiring Superintendent Jack Silva and lead one of the region’s largest school districts through its next chapter.
“You have 15 days to enjoy the honeymoon, and then the real work begins,” school board President Michael Faccinetto told Laraja, along with congratulations.
For his part, Silva offered favorable parting words, saying the district’s success is the result of “great kids; great faculty, teachers and staff; strong administrators; and a very good board that supports public education.”
“To be part of that and to contribute to that success has been the honor of my professional life,” Silva said.