Attorneys Sennett and Wachter Successfully Represent School District in Charter School Appeal

Timothy M. Sennett and Timothy S. Wachter successfully represented the Millcreek Township School District in regard to the Erie Biosciences Academy Charter School Appeal. This case involved a charter school application submitted to the Millcreek Township School District which was denied by the School Board as being deficient. The Erie Bioscience Academy Charter School gathered a Petition to appeal the case and submitted the Petition to the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County which was responsible to determine the sufficiency of the Petition.

A minimum of 1,000 valid signatures was required for the Appeal to proceed. Attorneys Sennett and Wachter conducted an investigation and determined that the Petitioners made up names, made up addresses, forged signatures and modified signature lines. In addition, the investigation determined that the affidavits attached to the Petition were improper as most of the affiants did not rely upon anyone’s representation as to the accuracy of the signature pages associated with their affidavits.

As a result, the Court found that the total number of valid signatures - only 121 out of 1,431 - fell well below the threshold of 1,000 signatures as set forth by the Charter School Law and that the affidavits appended to the Petition failed to meet the requirements of the Charter School Law. The Court ruled in the School District’s favor and the Charter School’s Petition for Appeal was dismissed.

For more information, please contact Sarah Holland.