The Ambridge Area school board will vote Wednesday night on a proposed Baden charter school and if the school directors listen to their administrators, the vote will be a foregone conclusion.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Joe Pasquerilla and Director of Special Education Travis Mineard took turns filleting plans for the Baden Academy Charter School at special Ambridge school board meeting Monday night, questioning its management structure, its curriculum, its building and even its budgeting.

The school, proposed in November, is planning to integrate the arts into academic subjects, offering an experience that is rooted in expression. It would be housed in the former Mount Gallitzin Catholic school, offering classes for 4-year-old kindergarten to fourth grade.

Dr. Pasquerilla and Mr. Mineard said the building is a problem, with safety concerns and issues over common space shared with the Sisters of St. John, who use parts of the same building as living space. The Ambridge officials also said that if it did not rent the activity center, the school would have no place for art classes, music classes or gym.

If the school board denies the school a charter, it can appeal to a state board that has the power to overrule the board. School organizers, who did not speak at last night's meeting, have said they have 300 pre-registrations for 192 places in the school.

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