IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
EASTERN DISTRICT
DISCOVERY CHARTER SCHOOL, : No. 193 EAL 2015
:
Respondent :
: Petition for Allowance of Appeal from
: the Order of the Commonwealth Court
v. :
:
:
SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA :
AND SCHOOL REFORM COMMISSION, :
:
Petitioners :
ORDER
PER CURIAM
AND NOW, this 26th day of April, 2016, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is
GRANTED. The issues, as stated by Petitioners, are:
(1) Did the Commonwealth Court err when it created an extra-legislative scheme for
amending charters that is not contained in the Charter School Law?
(2) Did the Commonwealth Court err when it held that, although the Charter School
Law does not authorize amendments to charters, a charter school has a right to
amend its charter at any time to change its charter’s terms without evaluation of
the proposed amended terms by a school district under the [Charter School
Law’s] provisions governing charter applications?
(3) If charter amendments are permissible, did the Commonwealth Court err when it
held that, although the Charter School Law does not authorize displacement of a
school district governing body’s authority with respect to amendment
applications, that governing body should be deemed to deny an application if that
body fails to act on it within an unspecified time and to thereby forfeit that
authority to the State Charter School Appeal Board?