MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The leader of a Morgantown-based charter school said he’ll have an eye Tuesday on oral arguments at the state Supreme Court about charter schools.
West Virginia Academy President John Treu said he believes Supreme Court justices should keep in place the current process of approving new schools through the Professional Charter Schools Board. Treu and the West Virginia Academy were established to serve Monongalia, Preston and Marion counties and also the first institutions to be rejected under the approval process determined by local districts.
Charter schools were approved during the 2019 legislative session, and the WVA submitted their application in 2020, which was unanimously rejected by the boards of education from both counties.
At the time, director of the Cardinal Institute Garrett Ballengee said, “I think this points to a fatal flaw in the law itself by giving a competitor’s veto to the county school board with very few options for recourse.”
“Going through the school districts isn’t a viable option for charter schools because the school districts view charter schools as competition,” Treu said Monday on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” ” So, with that model, really having a state-level board is essential if you’re going to have school choice, so it’s a very important case.”
According to Treu, districts are concerned about resources pulled from the public education system that could hurt their operations. Following the 2020 vote, then-Monongalia County Board of Education President Nancy Walker cited “holes” in the WVA application and said that the standards in seven of the ten areas set by the state were not met.
“There was never really any question in their minds as to whether they were going to reject us; it was really just an opportunity for them to figure out how, and that’s not how the law was written,” Treu said. “The law was designed so that charter schools could apply, and as long as they met the requirements, they would be approved.”
Treu said evidence was when the Monongalia County Board of Education said they did not meet the state standard for having a financial professional on the board of the WVA. Treu is listed as an associate professor of accounting in the John Chambers School of Business and Economics.
“I very clearly met the requirements of having someone with a background in finance; I actually write articles for Capitol Markets Research,” Treu said. “By every measure, I’m an expert in finance and accounting.”
In the months after the rejection, Treu weighed options and determined a legal fight would have been too exhaustive. But when lawmakers passed legislation creating the PCSB, staff reassembled the application and were approved.
“But we decided it didn’t really merit filing a lawsuit based on the merits of the claim because that would tie us up in litigation for years,” Treu said. “So, instead, we applied to a different body, which was the Professional Charter Schools Board the following year.”