Richmond is set to get its charter school -- at least until January when the next School Board is seated.

The current board voted 5-0 last night to approve a contract for the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts. The vote means the group behind the long-anticipated charter school finally can begin working toward a projected opening in late July.

"Tonight's vote reaffirms the School Board's commitment to providing innovative solutions to education," said Antione Green, the president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters and, for the past two months, a member of the Patrick Henry board.

School Board Chairman George P. Braxton II, Vice Chairwoman Lisa Dawson and members Betsy Carr, Keith West and Carol A.O. Wolf voted in favor of the contract. Wolf had abstained on two previous votes about the school proposal. Kimberly Bridges is out of town and missed the vote.

Board members Joan T. Mimms, Chandra Smith and Evette L. Wilson recused themselves from the discussion and the vote. They consistently have voted against and voiced opposition to the charter school on a number of grounds. They said the board violated its own procedure in handling the application.

"We'll accept whatever the board decides," Smith said as the three left the room. "This decision has to sit solidly on their shoulders," she added after the vote.

While the three were out, Wolf proposed amendments to the contract that would call for the Patrick Henry group to create a three-year plan for making the school as diverse as possible and for special permission for the children of the school's founders to be guaranteed admission.

The diversity plan passed; the reserved seats for founders' children did not.

The vote was this board's third and last on the issue. In May, it tentatively approved the school, based on coming up with an acceptable contract.

Lawyers for the board and the Patrick Henry group then came up with a contract each side thought was acceptable. That was scuttled, though, when the board took up the issue at its first meeting in September. The vote was 4-4 with one abstention.

West voted against the contract in September after voting in favor of the school in May. He said he thought the contract was a bad deal for Patrick Henry. He then created his own contract, a revised version of which was voted on last night. He said he was happy with the outcome.

The catch is that the contract includes wide authority for the School Board to squash the deal, and a slight shift in the board could alter support for the charter school. Of the nine members, five are running for re-election. Of the five who voted in favor of the contract last night, only two are running for re-election.

The school will include students from kindergarten through fifth grade and will be open to any child in the city. If demand exceeds space, students will be chosen through a lottery.

The public school will be subject to state standards, including Standards of Learning benchmarks, but will operate independently of the city school system.
Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or zreid@timesdispatch.com.