Article published May 28, 2009
Mayor won’t OK charter school bill
Measure targets relocation permit
Mayor Carty Finkbeiner yesterday said he would not approve a Toledo City Council ordinance strongly urging the city plan commission to strip Glass City Academy charter school of its ability to relocate in a former west-side synagogue.
Council on Tuesday voted 6-6 on the ordinance, which gave the mayor the tie-breaking vote.
Glass City Academy wants to purchase and move into the Congregation B’nai Israel synagogue building, 2727 Kenwood Blvd., by piggybacking on a zoning permit granted last year to a different charter school.
West Toledo district Councilman Tom Waniewski said he proposed the legislation after residents of the Old Orchard neighborhood voiced opposition to the school.
The city granted a special-use permit last August to Knight Academy, a grades 6-8 charter school affiliated with St. Francis de Sales High School that grooms students for the rigors of a college-preparatory high school. The school abandoned plans for the synagogue location and instead moved to 3001 Hill Ave., piggybacking itself on a special-use permit first approved for Toledo Academy of Learning.
Special-use permits apply to properties and can remain good for up to a year when a building is unoccupied.
Glass City Academy, currently at 2276 Collingwood Blvd., signed a purchase agreement with the synagogue’s owner, the University of Toledo Foundation. The $1.3 million deal was to close by yesterday.
The school is a “dropout prevention and recovery school” for students age 16 to 21 seeking a high school diploma rather than an equivalency degree. It serves about 170 students in the 11th and 12th grade.
Voting against the ordinance were Betty Shultz, Frank Szollosi, Michael Ashford, Wilma Brown, Philip Copeland, and Mike Craig. Voting with Mr. Waniewski in favor of it were Mark Sobczak, Lindsay Webb, Joe McNamara, D. Michael Collins, and George Sarantou.
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