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Community Charter School to stay open

It appears Buffalo's Community Charter School will remain open under court order.

State Supreme Court Justice John Michalek issued an injunction against efforts by the State Education Department to close the East Side school, citing bad academic performance. That's the second charter school kept open by court order. The other is Pinnacle Charter.

Lawyer Lisa Coppola says Albany didn't cross the T's and dot the I's.

"The issue in the case is not whether Community, or Pinnacle, is a good school or a bad school. The issue in the case is whether the Regents and the State Education Department have a proper system to evaluate charter renewals. We contend that they do not. And the judge said we have a likelihood of success on our claim," Coppola said.

Since an Albany inspection in May of last year, Community has made major changes and has a turnaround plan it has put into effect.

Head-of-School Denise Luka says the school is filled for fall and has a waiting list. Luka says Community is working because it has a plan and a program.

With regular public schools cutting back in fiscal hard times, Luka points out Community has music, art and gym and is adding a foreign language.

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.