Submitted by ssvenningsen on
FOCUS convinces Control Board to let Paul PCS stay in its building
Paul PCS was the first conversion of a DCPS school to a public charter school. There was widespread opposition from the DCPS central office and the teacher's union to allowing the school to keep the building where it had operated as a DCPS school.
When the school finally converted, in 2000, the District refused to sign a lease giving the charter “site control,” as required to allow city funds to flow. The Charter Board could not make its first payment to the school, so a banker, who would later join and chair the PCSB, Tom Nida, extended a line of credit to allow the school to open. Finally the District backed down and signed a lease, but neighborhood activists sued, and it took a court decision to establish the principle that schools converting to charter status could keep their buildings.
Paul PCS continues to operate in their building on 8th Street NW.
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