Wednesday, September 10, 2003

By Carmen J. Lee, Post-Gazette Education Writer

City building inspectors have examined an East Liberty charter school and determined that it is safe for children's classes, contrary to assertions by Pittsburgh Public Schools officials.

Ron Graziano, chief of the city's Bureau of Building Inspection, said his assistant chief of construction, a staff building inspector and an electrical inspector walked through the Renaissance Academy of Pittsburgh Alternative of Hope Charter School Monday afternoon.

Graziano said he didn't realize until the three men reported back to him yesterday morning that officials for the charter school had obtained a building permit Aug. 6 to make improvements to its building, a former YMCA on Whitfield Street.

According to what Graziano's staff members told him, the issues Superintendent John Thompson raised in an Aug. 27 letter to city Zoning Administrator Patrick Ford had been addressed or were being taken care of, Graziano said.

The changes included installation of ramps and building alterations to comply with federal Americans With Disabilities Act requirements, and addition of new exit and emergency signs, fire doors and other improvements to address possible fire or health hazards.

Graziano said his staff would return to inspect the school in a month to see if all those improvements and corrections to some minor electrical problems had been completed.

Still, the building was sturdy and in good condition, he said, and he even asked the inspectors if they would send their children there and they told him they would.

Renaissance Academy board President William "Skip" Bowyer wasn't surprised by the inspectors' findings and said he was disappointed in Thompson for questioning the building's safety.

In his letter to Ford, Thompson asked why the charter school was granted an occupancy permit and listed 14 examples of what district officials believed were safety concerns based on two inspections by a district team.

Bowyer added that he still believes city school officials raised the questions because of their bias against charter schools, particularly Renaissance Academy, which the state granted a charter after the school board refused to do so.

Phil Parr, chief of staff for Pittsburgh Public Schools, said he was part of the district team that inspected the charter school Aug. 20, the last time school officials examined the school. At that time, the safety issues Thompson raised in his letter had not been addressed, Parr said.

Graziano, who sent inspectors to the charter school after Ford gave him Thompson's letter, said the building housing the Renaissance Academy was issued an occupancy permit to serve as a school on April 22, 1959, so the charter school did not need to get another permit.

But Parr said when city school officials closed Bon Air Elementary School in 2001 and reopened it last year, they had to get another occupancy permit.

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