Baltimore County could lose a charter school over a paperwork dispute

Bertrand Tchoumi’s optimism for his new charter school didn’t falter despite the hurdles he’s faced. That was until Baltimore County Public Schools told him the school couldn’t open this fall after all.

Bilingual Global Citizens Public Charter School, a language immersion school in which students would learn Mandarin Chinese and French, was supposed to take over a location near the White Marsh Mall. Over 100 families have already applied to the school, Tchoumi said, and 60 more are in the process.

But now Tchoumi and the public school system are at odds over the paperwork for the would-be charter school building, leaving prospective families in limbo.

“I spoke to parents who have students in private schools who are prepared to come to us,” he said. “That trust is going to fade.”

This is the latest hiccup in Bilingual Global’s journey to becoming an operating school, and it’s a common one. McKenzie Allen, executive director of the Maryland Alliance of Public Charter Schools, said facilities are the No. 1 barrier for an approved charter school to open. Charters, which are privately operated but largely publicly funded, must find and pay for their own buildings, a burden advocates are now pressing lawmakers to remove.

As with most Maryland school boards, Baltimore County’s has historically approved very few charters. The county’s sole charter school, Watershed Public Charter in Windsor Mill, also struggled to get off the ground, Allen said. Local school districts tend to be reluctant to dedicate precious public funds to these privately run schools.

But the Baltimore County school board unanimously approved Bilingual Global Citizens in April 2024 to teach kindergarten through eighth grade students.

The charter school was originally slated to open this school year but had not signed a charter agreement in time and had to delay. Then Tchoumi struggled to find a building. When he pitched using the now-closed Golden Ring Middle School in Rosedale as a temporary location, the school system wouldn’t go for it. It led to more delays, including putting a $2 million federal grant on hold.

The pause ended after he secured a location next to the White Marsh Mall: 7941 Corporate Drive in Nottingham. The 57,000-square-foot building once housed a call center and already has a cafeteria. But things like a restroom, drainage and a lounge space have to be added.

Tchoumi found a developer that would purchase and renovate the building. They’d sell it back to the school system, who’d make regular payments, like a mortgage, until it’s paid off, he said.

Tchoumi and the charter alliance said Bilingual Global Citizens met the school system’s Feb. 1 deadline to secure the space and submitted paperwork called a purchase sale agreement. Tchoumi agreed to pay $100,000 to secure the facility for 60 days, they said.

However, Baltimore County school officials said in an email that the charter school “failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the Charter Agreement and did not have a fully executed facilities agreement in place by the required deadline.”

Allen said she thinks the district is misunderstanding the documents Tchoumi submitted. ”They essentially said, ‘Well, you didn’t follow instructions so you can’t open your school this year.’”

Tchoumi said Baltimore County school officials would not meet with him when he was working on that documentation, which Allen called “disheartening,” since school districts are supposed to provide technical assistance during the process.

In an email, Gboyinde Onijala, a spokesperson for the school system, disputed that characterization and said that school officials have communicated with Bilingual Global all along. She declined a request for an interview.

The school system’s law office is now handling the issue after pushback from Tchoumi and the alliance.

If the decision to delay the opening stands, Tchoumi, the school’s executive director, will have to start his plans from scratch. The building plans were dependent on the school system’s signing off, he said. He could lose funding on a grant that has to be spent within a limited time.

Allen said the building delay is also holding up Tchoumi’s other responsibilities, like hiring teachers and creating a budget.

She sees the conflict in Baltimore County as symptomatic of widespread resistance to charter schools from Maryland public school officials.

When school boards approve a charter school, “the district can systematically create checks and balances that will prevent that school from opening,” she said.

A bill in the Maryland General Assembly would require the Interagency Commission on School Construction, Maryland’s school construction agency, to fund public charter school facilities so the charters can spend their public dollars elsewhere.

In Baltimore County, next school year’s budget includes funding for Bilingual Global and for Puzzle Pieces Learning Academy Public Charter School, which is also slated to open fall of 2026. If Bilingual Global can’t open, that money could possibly be used to pay for the $3.6 million worth of teaching positions added to the budget at the last minute, Superintendent Myriam Rogers said in February.

Tchoumi shared his grievances with Baltimore County’s school board Feb. 10. Allen said she brought the matter to the Maryland State Department of Education.

Allen said Tchoumi’s building deal is a good one. Blocking it, she said, would put Tchoumi “back at zero.”

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