Frederick Classical Charter Sch., Inc. v. Frederick Cnty. Bd. of Educ.
Decision Date | 31 March 2016 |
Docket Number | No. 42, Sept. Term, 2015.,42, Sept. Term, 2015. |
Citation | 134 A.3d 376,227 Md.App. 439 |
Parties | FREDERICK CLASSICAL CHARTER SCHOOL, INC. v. FREDERICK COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION. |
Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
F. William DuBois (Jessica M. Raba, Venable, LLP, on the brief), Baltimore, MD, for Appellant.
Andrew W. Nussbaum (Nussbaum Law, LLC, on the brief), Charksville, MD, for Appellee.
Panel: GRAEFF, REED, and ROBERT A. ZARNOCH (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.
ROBERT A. ZARNOCH (Retired, Specially Assigned), J."The movement to create charter schools, either by converting existing schools or by starting new ones, began in the 1990s from a growing concern that the public schools, at least in some areas, were not living up to legitimate public expectations, and the movement took root and spread quickly." Baltimore City Bd. of Sch. Com'rs v. City Neighbors Charter Sch., 400 Md. 324, 328, 929 A.2d 113 (2007). This movement has not been without controversy. In particular, the methodology for disbursing public funds for charter school use has been an area of unique difficulty for policy makers. After six years of discussion and debate, see id. at 348–56, 929 A.2d 113, the General Assembly passed the Public Charter School Act of 2003. Laws of 2003, ch. 358. The Act provided that funding for charter schools would be "commensurate with the amount disbursed to other public schools in the local jurisdiction." Md.Code (1978, 2014 Repl. Vol.), Education Article ("Educ.") § 9–109(a).
Following the approval of its charter application, in 2013, Frederick Classical Charter School, Inc. ("Frederick Classical"), appellant, protested that the Frederick County Board of Education ("FCPS"), appellee, violated Educ. § 9–109 by failing to include transportation funds in its fiscal year 2014 funding allocation even though Frederick Classical was not providing transportation for its students. This decision was upheld by both the State Board of Education (the "State Board") and the Circuit Court for Frederick County.
Frederick Classical appealed to this Court and presents the following question for our review, which we have rephrased:
Did the State Board err in finding that the Local Board provided full funding despite the fact that it did not include transportation funding in Frederick Classical's funding allocation?
We hold that the State Board did not err in upholding the decision of FCPS not to include transportation funding for Frederick Classical because FCPS complied with State Board of Education rulings and state education law. We affirm the decision of the circuit court.
This case concerns a dispute about local board of education funding for a charter school—specifically whether the local board was required to provide funding for transportation services that neither it nor the charter school provided. We begin with background on charter schools and transportation funding in Maryland.
"[E]ach county board shall arrange for the transportation of students to and from consolidated schools."1 Educ. § 4–120(b). However, local school boards are not required to provide transportation to all students who attend public schools. See, e.g., Educ. § 7–801(b)(1) ( ); § 7–805 ( ). The state distributes grants to the county boards to provide transportation services for public school students and disabled children, pursuant to the formula set out in Educ. § 5–205.2 This section sets restrictions on this funding, requiring that any excess funds be applied to the following fiscal year and that a county board may not transfer student transportation funding to any other category. Educ. § 5–205(a).
Charter schools are City Neighbors Charter Sch., 400 Md. at 328, 929 A.2d 113. As the Court of Appeals has noted, the principal objective of those who desired to create charter schools "was to develop and implement innovative and more effective educational programs, and, to do that, they needed and demanded freedom from some of the structural, operational, fiscal, and pedagogical controls that governed the traditional public school system." City Neighbors Charter Sch., 400 Md. at 329, 929 A.2d 113. In view of this goal, the State Board of Education has held that the funding mix of each fund source to the local board of education need not be duplicated at the charter school level. City Neighbors Charter Sch. v. Balt. City Bd. of Sch. Comm'rs, MSBE Op. No. 05–17 (2005) ("City Neighbors").
Recounting the development of its interpretation of funding allocation for charter schools, the State Board, in its opinion below, stated:
In other words, in MMCI, the State Board determined that a local board may use an alternative funding formula, as long as that formula resulted in a per pupil allocation that was similar to the allocation set out in City Neighbors. Keeping in mind the State Board's interpretation of Educ. § 9–109 set out above, we now turn to the facts of this case.
On April 6, 2011, the Frederick County School Board approved Frederick Classical's application for the formation of a charter school. The Local Board and Frederick Classical subsequently entered into a contract, the charter, that described the relationship between Frederick Classical and FCPS. With regard to school funding, the charter states that:
[i]n accordance with ED § 9–109[3 ] and further clarified in corresponding State Board Rulings, the [Local] Board shall disburse to [the School] an amount of county, state, and federal money for elementary, middle, and secondary students that is commensurate with the amount disbursed to other public schools in the local jurisdiction.
With regard to transportation of students, Section H of the charter states:
On June 26, 2013, FCPS provided ...
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...of Education , MSBE Op. No. 06–17, p. 3 (May 24, 2006). As this Court explained in Frederick Classical Charter School, Inc. v. Frederick County Board of Education , 227 Md.App. 439, 446, 134 A.3d 376, cert. granted , 448 Md. 724, 141 A.3d 135 (2016), the Board in Monocacy determined that "a......
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Frederick Classical Charter Sch., Inc. v. Frederick Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 25, Sept. Term, 2016
...Bd. of Sch. Comm'rs v. City Neighbors Charter Sch. , 400 Md. 324, 929 A.2d 113 (2007) ; Frederick Classical Charter Sch., Inc. v. Frederick Cty. Bd. of Educ. , 227 Md.App. 439, 134 A.3d 376 (2016) ; Monarch Acad. Balt. Campus, Inc. v. Balt. City Bd. of Sch. Comm'rs , 231 Md.App. 594, 153 ......
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Frederick Classical Charter Sch., Inc. v. Frederick Cnty. Bd. of Educ.
...See, e.g., Balt. City Bd. of Sch. Comm'rs v. City Neighbors Charter Sch., 400 Md. 324 (2007) ; Frederick Classical Charter Sch., Inc. v. Frederick Cty. Bd. of Educ., 227 Md. App. 439 (2016); Monarch Acad. Balt. Campus, Inc. v. Balt. City Bd. of Sch. Comm'rs, 231 Md. App. 594 , cert. grant......
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