An Annapolis charter school plans to open next month despite uncertainty about whether school organizers and the Anne Arundel County teachers union can reach a labor agreement that will satisfy school board members.
Superintendent Eric J. Smith said he is deeply concerned about whether KIPP Harbor Academy can open its introductory program before a contract for the school year has been approved. This week, school board members rejected a contract negotiated by the teachers union and the academy.
If KIPP cannot reach an agreement, schools would have to scramble to reallocate teachers and materials to accommodate its 80 enrolled students, he said.
"We might find ourselves over a weekend having to reschedule schools," Smith said. The superintendent also said he worries that parents and teachers will expect the school to open in the fall if the three-week introductory program begins next month.
KIPP officials have said that for the summer they plan to follow the contract that governs all teachers in the district.
As a result, district officials cannot stop KIPP from opening, said P. Tyson Bennett, the school board's attorney.
KIPP, one of two charter schools that has been approved in Anne Arundel County, still needs the school board's approval to pay three teachers 20 percent more to work an extended school day and week. The school is targeting low-performing pupils, particularly black pupils.
Publicly funded charter schools can operate somewhat separately from school systems, choosing their own curricula and methodology. But their teachers are employees of the school district and are subject to the district's contract with the teachers union, which represents all of them.
County school officials instructed charter schools to negotiate agreements directly with the teachers union on labor issues.
Board's rejection
The school board voted 7-1 Wednesday to reject an agreement negotiated by KIPP and the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County. Board members said they disagreed with a proposed grievance procedure and a requirement that teachers pay a share of union dues if not members, an arrangement known as "fair share."
"I don't see how the grievance policy or fair share addresses the particular needs of the school," board member Tricia Johnson of Davidsonville said during the meeting.
Board member Michael J. McNelly of Tracy's Landing voted for the agreement, saying the academy and teachers union had followed the school system's instructions.
