Malone Stirring the Pot Again

This morning as parents were dropping of their children at Patrick Henry School’s temporary location Reggie Malone was passing out a letter between School Board Chairwoman Kim Bridges and President of Patrick Henry’s Board of Directors Sharon Burton. Reggie Malone had served as vice president of the charter school’s board but resigned the same day as the board was preparing to vote on his removal.  The letter expresses concern about how the school is going to obtain Virginia Historic Tax Credits and asks for clarification. It also clears up what had been a previous sticking point in relation to siblings. This past year a sibling of an accepted student still had to be entered into the lottery. The letter states, “This year, with 128 current students who intend to return, pre-lottery status and grade level/status configurations could certainly be planned to include interested siblings of those current students.”

Chris Dovi and Richmond Magazine.com are reporting it as another snag with the school board. As expected Patrick Henry has a different perspective and is quoted in the Dovi article;

Kristen Larson, a Patrick Henry spokeswoman, says Bridges’ letter does not indicate a rift or a reason for concern about the charter school’s progress. Rather, the letter is a natural follow-up to last week’s meeting between Patrick Henry’s leadership and School Board members.

“The way that we left things was that if there are any questions or any clarifications that [the School Board] needs from us, [they were] to please let us know,” Larson says. “We see this letter as a follow-up to that meeting last week.”

Larson says that Patrick Henry’s lawyers are looking into the issues in Bridges’ letter. But Larson does not envision problems that could affect the schedule of renovation, expected to start in late March.