Phila. SRC to get details on charter school costs

Michael J. Masch, the chief business officer of the Philadelphia School District, will brief the School Reform Commission today on charter school costs.

Masch is scheduled to make a presentation on "Net Costs of Charter Schools" during the commission's regular, 2 p.m. meeting in the auditorium of the district's headquarters at 440 N. Broad St.

There are 63 charter schools in the city that enroll more than 30,000 students.

The district spent $279 million on charters during 2007-08. The state Department of Education reimbursed the district for about 30 percent of the costs.

The commission today also is scheduled to recognize two district employees who recently received national and state honors.

Hilderbrand Pelzer III, assistant superintendent of the district's alternative schools region, will be honored for receiving the Queen Smith Award for Commitment to Urban Education for his work at Pennypack House School, the educational arm for adult and juvenile offenders in the Philadephia prison system. The Council of the Great City Schools and Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. co-sponsor the award.

The commission also will recognize Karen James, director of parent and family services in the district. The state Department of Education Migrant Education Program presented her with a Partner of the Year Award in Southeastn Pa. for coordinating the district's first-ever special registration campaign for immigrant students in 2007 and repeating the drive in 2008.