Capital School District followed state law in dealing with Academy of Dover, superintendent says

Principals in the Capital School District are following state law and regulations when it comes to dealing with students that show up at their doors while already enrolled at a charter school, Capital School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Thomas said.

Thomas was responding to a question posed by Capital Board of Education member Matthew Lindell at Wednesday night's school board meeting. Lindell had alluded to the stories he had read of the Crawford family in the Dover Post.

The Academy of Dover Board of Directors recently released Lori Crawford from the one-year enrollment commitment she agreed to last spring during her quest to find a school for her third-grade daughter, bringing an end to an ordeal that began in late August. Crawford, a Delaware State University professor, had sent her third- grade daughter to East Dover Elementary School on the first day of school Aug. 23 only to find out that her records had been transferred to Academy of Dover based on what she said was simply an inquiry of the charter school last spring.

Academy of Dover Principal Noel Rodriguez criticized Crawford for not following up on her commitment to the charter. And he criticized Capital School District for not following state law and regulations with regard to dual enrollment of a student.

Lindell said he researched the matter and found that state law required schools to contact a charter school if they determined that a student who showed up at their doors was under contract to that particular charter school. He quoted, in part, state law that forbid dual enrollment of a child in two public schools.

"Looking at the code, if we know that student has signed a contract, we are to contact that particular charter school to resolve the issue," Lindell said. "I think if we put that language in our policy for enrollment that would clarify a lot of things."

Thomas said that, to his knowledge, school staff at East Dover Elementary had followed state law and protocol when it came to issues of dual enrollment.

"It's fine to put in there because it's state law and our principals are already following state law," he said.

However, he said the situation with Academy of Dover was not the best example to refer to given Capital's historical problems with this particular charter school.

"We don't have any difficulty with any other charter school," Thomas said. "I'm not going to get into it because this is not a battle we're fighting. The state determines the unit count and we're going with that," he added.

Delaware Department of Education spokeswoman Alison Kepner had said that as long as the Academy of Dover Board's release occurred by Sept. 30, then Capital's East Dover would theoretically receive state funding for Crawford's daughter. (State funding comprises the majority of education funds.)

To follow up, Lindell asked if East Dover Elementary in particular had reached out to Academy of Dover from day one with regard to Crawford's daughter.

Thomas said Wednesday night's school board meeting was not the place to discuss the matter. But, he said Academy of Dover was contacted from the start.