When asked if he had intervened to have Mosaica withdraw, Evans responded by saying that he wanted to "thank Mosaica for the decision that they made."
He also thanked Robert L. Archie Jr., chairman of the commission, and vowed that he would work to make Martin Luther King "the best high school in the United States of America."
In a district news release, Mosaica said it had decided to focus on its other proposed charter-school conversion at Gen. David B. Birney Elementary School.
Foundations Inc. was the second preference, after Mosaica, of the King School Advisory Council, which is composed of parents, students, staff, and community members, the district said.
The president and chief executive officer of Foundations is Rhonda H. Lauer, a former Philadelphia School District associate superintendent. Foundations is based in Moorestown.
Mosaica, a for-profit company, did not respond to a voice-mail request for comment left at its New York office.
It was one of three charter operators named by the commission Wednesday to run six low-performing schools as part of Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman's Renaissance charter schools initiative.
Contact staff writer Robert Moran at 215-854-5983 or bmoran@phillynews.com.
