Genesis School petitions court to keep doors open

Supporters of Genesis held up this sign during a public hearing on the future of the school at the Bluford Branch of the Kansas City Public Library in February.

Genesis School’s fight to stay open is heading to court.

The Kansas City public charter school filed a petition this week in Cole County Circuit Court after the Missouri state school board on Monday, without addressing admitted flaws in the process, upheld the state charter school commission’s decision earlier this year to revoke the school’s charter.

Genesis is asking the court to reinstate the charter, arguing that the decision to revoke it was unlawful and a breach of contract. Without relief from the court, the school would have to close July 1.

More than 200 children attend the K-8 public charter school whose mission over more than two decades has been to serve all children, including many who have struggled in other school settings. The school is the site of one of LINC’s Caring Communities programs.

State law requires the publicly funded charter schools to operate under the supervision of either universities or the state’s Missouri Charter Public School Commission (MCPSC).

Genesis had just come under the supervision of the MCPSC in July and was just a few months into its new contract when the MCPSC instead began a process to revoke the school’s charter.

Genesis made an appeal to the state school board, arguing that Genesis should be given the opportunity to fulfill the expectations and achievement targets in its new charter with the MCPSC. The MCPSC, Genesis argued, was taking an unprecedented and flawed action in seeking to revoke the charter.

In February, hundreds of Genesis supporters crowded into a meeting room at the Bluford Branch of the Kansas City Public Library in a hearing before the MCPSC, but the panel later in the month voted 6-to-1 to revoke the charter.

The state school board took up Genesis’s appeal in an online meeting Monday.

Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven, addressing the board, said there were flaws in the process by the MCPSC, but recommended that the state board uphold the MCPSC’s decision to revoke Genesis’s charter over concerns with the school’s academic performance.

The state board did not address the school’s concerns with the process or the issue of breach of contract.

The Kansas City representative on the state school board — Carol Hallquist — described the question before the board as a “tough decision,” noting that Genesis “is beloved in the community” and has “stellar relationships with parents.”

However, she said, she was troubled by issues over the school’s academic performance.

In a written statement after the state school board’s decision, Genesis expressed concern with the board’s brief consideration of Genesis’s future, noting that the board did not acknowledge or discuss the many statements in support of Genesis made by educators, parents and partner organizations.

“Board members expressed concern regarding the impact their decision has on the future of our students,” the Genesis statement said, “but none acknowledged or asked why parents currently choose to attend Genesis.”