The Richmond School Board wants a commitment by Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts to offer reliable transportation for needy students, even though it's not required in the agreement that created the charter school.
The charter agreement does commit Patrick Henry to reach out to all parts of the city to make the student body diverse, and School Board members say that requires transportation for students who couldn't attend the South Richmond charter elementary school otherwise.
"It's essential — it's one of the linchpins of the program," 4th District representative Adria A. Graham Scott said at a board work session Monday. "You need to have sufficient transportation, end of story."
But racial and socioeconomic diversity isn't a problem at Patrick Henry, said Patrick Henry board President Sharon Burton. "What we have in place right now has not affected our diversity plan."
The transportation issue, sparked by a shortage of bus seats this year for all students who need them, dominated a meeting called by the School Board to assess how the school complies with the charter agreement as it begins its second year of operation.
The draft assessment prepared by the School Board noted shortcomings and quantified the Richmond public schools' significant level of support of the charter school.
But School Board Chairwoman Kimberly Bridges of the 1st District acknowledged that the current review doesn't measure Patrick Henry's considerable academic success, which is a major piece of charter school assessments around the country.
"They all begin and end with academic success," Bridges said.
The discussion did not include an ongoing Virginia State Police investigation of alleged embezzlement involving the school, or problems with the management of a student activity fund managed by the principal, a school system employee who is currently on paid administrative leave.
The transportation problem came as a surprise to the Patrick Henry board of directors, which learned in July that more students requested bus transportation for the new academic year than the previous year. Patrick Henry officials said the school administration had not told them about the demand.
Burton said the school was able to expand bus capacity this year from 29 to 33 students under its contract with William Byrd Community House. That left about 25 students on the waiting list, including three who subsequently withdrew from the school.
The bus contract won't expire until November, and Burton said the school previously had not been able to find an alternative that it could afford. Currently, it's paying about $60,000 a year for transportation.
Instead, the school has tried to narrow the list of eligible students to those who have no other way to get to school, and school parents have organized a carpool service to fill the gap.
That wasn't good enough for most School Board members, who cited a high correlation between poverty and lack of transportation, as well as to some degree race.
"In order to meet your goal of diversity, you need something stable," said Vice Chairwoman Dawn C. Page of the 8th District, who demanded a plan for the current year by Oct. 15. "You need a concrete plan to address transportation."
Donald L. Coleman of the 7th District took a gentler approach. "At this point, you are meeting your diversity goals," Coleman told Burton. "Please don't get discouraged."
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