Though public, Erie Rise board has been meeting in private over fate of millions in cash

The board of trustees of Erie Rise has been meeting regularly since the public charter school ceased operating as a school in June 2023.

The meetings have concerned the financial dissolution of Erie Rise, which still controls millions of dollars in public funds as it moves to finally wind up its business affairs.

The meetings have been private, however.

The Erie Rise Leadership Academy Charter School's consultant on the dissolution testified in court that the board has still met in 2023 and 2024 but decided not to advertise the meetings once Erie Rise stopped operating as a school on June 30, 2023.

"No public advertisement has been made," the consultant, Christian Anderson, of Maryland, said at a hearing in Erie County Common Pleas Court on Feb. 8. "There was some discussion: Do we even need to have public board meetings because we are no longer operating as a school?"

Erie Rise has not advertised its board meetings as accessible to the public under the state Sunshine Act since the public notice of a meeting in June 2023, according to the last legal advertisement Erie Rise placed in the Erie Times-News.

The ad, published in June 2022, publicized board meetings from July 21, 2022, through June 15, 2023.

Erie School District, media lawyer question lack of access

The lack of public meetings has raised additional concerns for the Erie School District. It prompted the Feb. 8 hearing by suing Erie Rise to speed up the dissolution and get records on how Erie Rise's is spending its remaining assets, which include more than $2 million in cash.

"It is our belief that though they are not running any educational programs, the Sunshine Act still applies," Neal Brokman, the assistant Erie schools superintendent who is the liaison to charter schools, said in an interview. "They are still appropriating taxpayer dollars, and the public has a right to hear the discussions and make comments."

The Erie School District's position is consistent with that of the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, of which the Erie Times-News is a member. Though Erie Rise has ceased operating as a school, it remains subject to the open-meetings law, said Melissa Melewsky, the association's media law counsel.

"There's no case law on this issue, but from the public access perspective and consistent with the intent of the law, the Sunshine Act still applies," Melewsky said in an email.

"The act covers all the official action and deliberation of the school board, not just issues related to academics and school function. For example, the money the board is voting to spend is public funding and the public has a right to witness and participate in the decision-making process used to spend it. As long as the board is empowered as a public agency, the Sunshine Act applies."

Erie Rise's board is self-appointed, not publicly elected

The president of the Erie Rise board is Ed Williams, Anderson, the consultant, said in an interview. He identified the other trustees as Constance Ratcliff, Shantel Hilliard and Michael Hooks.

Williams, who is also the deputy treasurer for the city of Erie, did not immediately respond to a telephone call and email seeking comment.

Erie Rise board members are self-appointed. They are named to the board with approval of other board members. The process is unlike that for members of school boards for school districts. The public elects them.

Minutes show Erie Rise board has been meeting

Erie Rise closed as a school after the Erie School Board cited poor academic performance and revoked its charter.

As Erie Rise's chartering entity, the Erie School District is entitled to Erie Rise's financial records, and most of Erie Rise's assets will revert to the district under state law.

The district sent Erie Rise $3.4 million in 2023 to pay the tuition of the approximately 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade who attended the school at West 10th and Cascade streets.

In suing to expedite the dissolution, the district asked a judge to order Erie Rise to turn over financial records it had refused to provide.

Following the Feb. 8 hearing on the district's requests, Judge Marshall Piccinini ordered Erie Rise to give records to the district. The judge also scheduled a series of status conferences, starting on March 14, to ensure that Erie Rise dissolves by its self-imposed deadline of May 30.

The documents that Erie Rise provided to the district — and that the Erie Times-News obtained from the district via the Right-to-Know Law — show Erie Rise had a total of $2.2 million in two bank accounts as of Jan. 31. The district is reviewing the records to determine what will be left after Erie Rise pays creditors.

Also included in the documents were minutes of meetings the Erie Rise board has held since June 30, 2023 — the unadvertised meetings. The minutes show the meetings were held via Zoom and that the trustees discussed finances and dissolution.

"We continued to process invoices and respond to State inquiries," according to the minutes for a meeting on Dec. 14.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Rise board has been meeting in private on fate of public funds