The Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts is free to use donations for some of its startup costs, a provision that doesn't violate state laws about funding agreements between charter schools and local school boards.
That was the ruling by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli this week in response to concerns from Del. G. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond.
Last month, Loupassi raised questions about the charter agreement between Patrick Henry and the Richmond School Board.
Loupassi, a former Richmond city councilman, questioned a provision that would require the charter school to pay for certain startup costs on its own using donations. He also said the school is scheduled to receive a smaller per-pupil allocation than other Richmond schools.
Loupassi asked whether the startup costs and the per-pupil allocation violated state laws that say funding and service agreements between public charter schools and local school boards "shall not provide a financial incentive or constitute a financial disincentive to the establishment of a public charter school."
Richmond school officials have projected to provide Patrick Henry with $10,335 per student, compared with the division's current per-pupil costs of $13,100. The latter, however, includes funding from sources that wouldn't apply to Patrick Henry, such as federal Title I money.
On the startup costs, Cuccinelli's opinion said that provision of the agreement doesn't violate state laws because it doesn't refer to "funding or service agreements," such as food services, custodial or maintenance or other services, and that funding agreements referred to in state law refer to ongoing operations of the school, not startup costs.
On the question of whether the smaller per-pupil amount is appropriate, Cuccinelli said he didn't "have sufficient facts to determine whether a disparity in funding exists at Patrick Henry, or, if it does, whether the disparity would constitute a 'disincentive' in a funding agreement."
Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or hprestidge@timesdispatch.com.
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