Hell Hath Frozen Over - I Agree with the NJ Editorial Board!

Time for new leader at Pencader Charter

Removal of Ann Lewis as the leader of Pencader Charter Business and Finance High on Monday was long overdue.

Lewis’ dedication to the school’s mission of producing stellar graduates was felled by aspects of her personality and poor decisions, which state officials and school staff found potentially illegal. It also didn’t help she could not clarify her education. Her claim to have obtained a doctorate from a school experts label a degree mill only damaged Pencader’s reputation. By her supporter’s accounts, Lewis was a rock when the school faced possible closure a year ago, because Pencader had used up its share of state funding before the end of that school year, while Lewis was at its helm.                                              

Remember, this school won its charter because its stated mission is to “equip students will the skills needed for employment in the business and finance industry.” What better example of fiscal stewardship for these young people than to demonstrate that ability to keep the school on budget. Additionally, in its nearly six years of operation, Pencader has routinely been ensnared in problems about questionable hiring practices, salary inequities and board decisions that the state Department of Education considers out of kilter with healthy administrative stewardship.

The state’s Pension Board referral to the Attorney General about possible “criminal and/or civil” actions, the school’s financial oversight plan, and a Freedom of Information Act complaint regarding a public meeting notice are appropriate death knells to Lewis’ distraught leadership. It’s time to entrust the $5 million state funds into this publicly-funded charter school to better leadership.
 

My thoughts: I only want to add that Pencader decreased its deficit form $1 mil to $250,000 because of the team of volunteers who developed a budget that the school could live within.  Bill Bentz, Shawn Kapinski, the CBOC committee, and all of the board members had substantial roles in the creation of that budget while the Department of Education oversaw compliance to that budget during its monthly meetings with the school.  Credit for Pencader's financial stewardship belongs to this team, not just one individual!  Furthermore, Pencader stayed true to the budget b/c teachers did without, providing supplemental materials at their own cost, and because many parents gave generously from their own pockets to ensure that needed materials were available.  Let's also not forget that the Pencader's students were deprived of a Guidance Department last year to ensure the school stayed on target.

The impact of the generosity of each of these individuals should not be sacrificed in an effort to defend the potentially illegal and certainly unethical actions of one. To do so is to commit a travesty against all of those who worked to hard to restore fiscal solvency to Pencader Business and Finance Charter High School.