BY SARIT LASCHINSKY

Special to The Press

Northwestern Lehigh School Board members received a number of comments and statements regarding the district’s charter renewal with Circle of Seasons during their Dec. 2 meeting.

Several parents and families connected to Circle of Seasons voiced their support for the charter school, making note of the education options, school values and positive impact on their children.

They asked the district to renew its charter with Circle of Seasons.

Board President Willard Dellicker said the charter renewal was not on the evening’s agenda and would be discussed at a future meeting.

He also said the board had received numerous letters about the charter renewal.

“All of which imply that our school board may not conduct a fair, impartial and timely review of your school’s charter application,” Dellicker said.

He wanted Circle of Seasons and parents to know the board’s top priority was the welfare of the students, including charter school students.

Dellicker added the board and administration have the integrity to carry out the renewal.

“Fairly and equitably through careful consideration of all the education, social, administrative and legal aspects of Circle of Seasons based on the years of experience since the implementation of the Circle of Seasons charter,” Dellicker said.

Several Circle of Seasons staff and board of trustee members spoke in response to discussions about the charter school’s renewal at an earlier board meeting.

Circle of Seasons President and CEO Alison Saeger said she wanted to publicly correct misinformation which she said was presented to the school board during the Nov. 18 meeting.

Saeger said district Superintendent Jennifer Holman told the board the charter school had not submitted responses to portions of the charter renewal document requests.

Saeger said Circle of Seasons had submitted hundreds of requested documents and evidence of school operations.

Her concern was the board was “hopelessly misinformed” by Holman’s statements, which might create bias during the charter renewal process.

Saeger wanted to publicly state the charter school had submitted all required documents on time.

Kimberly Heiman, president of the charter school’s board of trustees, echoed Saeger’s comments.

She stated the school had addressed every request related to the renewal process.

Heiman said it was “disturbing” to hear public statements that the charter school had not responded to some of the district’s requests when all required evidence had been uploaded and dutifully prepared over several months.

She added it was “more disturbing” that the drive activity showed only a few documents had been opened, and that Holman had spoken publicly to the board without checking with Circle of Seasons for a response.

Dellicker agreed the charter renewal process is a drain on time and resources but disagreed with the accusations of “misinformation and mismanagement of data” and “open hostility” allegedly shown by the school board.

He wanted both entities to come up with a collaborative condition where Northwestern Lehigh can review documentation without having to get into a legal disagreement.

Holman said a comprehensive response had been prepared by the district which would be sent to Circle of Seasons administration and board of trustees in response to the comments raised during the meeting.

She added accusations claiming the district did not review the files in their entirety is false.

Assistant Superintendent Troy Sosnovik said as a matter of best practice when evaluating document submissions, the district had made a copy of the entire submitted drive to maintain integrity and “allow our district and legal team to complete a thorough evaluation.”

Holman concluded by saying the district takes its relationship with Circle of Seasons seriously, along with the responsibility to educate students at district and charter schools.

She said the district has looked forward to its collaborative approach, and looks forward to more of the same in the future.