A Mat-Su family, represented by the hard-left Northern Justice Project, has filed a lawsuit against the nationally acclaimed Academy Charter School in Palmer.
Their complaint? The school’s requirement for parents to log 36 hours of volunteer time per child each year for their first student. The plaintiffs claim it’s unconstitutional, a violation of due process, and basically turns charter school education into an unpaid labor camp.
Download a copy of the legal filing here
If this claim finds traction with the court, it could undermine one of the key pillars that makes Alaska charter schools the envy of the nation.
Charter schools have long relied on requiring involved parents to help fill funding gaps that traditional brick-and-mortar public schools don’t face. This includes shoveling snow, transporting students, minor maintenance and repairs on school grounds and much more.
Upon enrollment, parents sign paperwork agreeing explicitly to these volunteer conditions.
The complaint was filed Aug. 28 in Palmer Superior Court. Natalia Romanova, mother to G.S., claims her family was surprised when the school told them G.S. was disenrolled for the 2025-26 year due to a shortfall in volunteer hours from the previous school year.
Romanova claims her family was given no prior warning, and no chance to explain, but were allegedly ambushed by Principal Barbara Gerard at a back-to-school night with a “non-negotiable” letter confirming G.S.’s ineligibility to re-enroll.
The family points to medical issues that kept them from hitting the full 36 hours. They are now suing for re-enrollment, attorney’s fees and a declaration that the charter school volunteer policy is illegal under the Alaska Constitution and State Law.
The lawsuit could have far reaching consequences for charter schools across Alaska, as it targets the heart of what makes Academy – and charters statewide – far outperform chronically failing traditional public schools.
Academy is a public charter in the Mat-Su School District, serving 265 kids from K-8 with a long waiting list to get in. The volunteer requirement is not a burden to families, but reflects the parent-school partnership that is tied to nearly all charter schools, and most private schools as well.
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On a typical week, parents help in classrooms, with maintenance and cleaning, running fundraisers and serving in myriad other ways. This team effort keeps operational costs down, while ensuring a high quality education in a state where education funding is stretched thin, and traditional public school performance is among the very worst in the nation.
Alaska charter schools operate on shoestring budgets compared to much larger schools, yet they deliver results that caught the attention of Harvard. A 2023 Harvard University study on public charter performance ranked Alaska’s charters – with Academy leading that pack – as the absolute best in the nation.
A key component of that success is involved parents who are meaningful stakeholders and participants in their child’s education. These families foster a culture of accountability, where kids see mom and/or dad rolling up sleeves for the greater good, fostering excellence that spills over into higher test scores, better attendance, and kids who actually love learning.
In Mat-Su alone, charters like Academy, Birchtree, and others boast proficiency rates in reading, math, and science that are the literal inverse of the dismal statewide averages – where two-thirds of traditional public school kids are failing or falling behind. Charter Schools flip the scores on their head where two thirds are proficient or above grade level.
Statewide, student proficiency hovers in the low 30s for core subjects like reading and math – dragged down by rural challenges but not excused by them. Charter schools, however, hit 60-70% proficient or advanced, even in tough metrics like math and science.
Charter schools have long been sought out by parents, many of whom are drawn to the volunteer aspect of the school culture.
Northern Justice Project, has a history of battling anything that threatens the teacher-union’s control over public education. Charters are seen by many on the left as a threat because they operate on a much smaller budget than traditional public schools, yet consistently outperform them.
The suit against Academy Charter claims the volunteer hours provision violates due process (no notice before disenrollment) – even though all policies are agreed to by the parent before enrolling in a given year. Plaintiffs also argue that state laws on free public education are being violated by requiring parents to volunteer, in a school in which they in fact voluntarily enrolled their students.
If the lawsuit is successful, it will severely undermine the charter school system and likely result in higher costs, larger class sizes that are more reflective of larger and vastly underperforming schools across the state.
Charter schools have long been sought out by parents, many of whom are drawn to the volunteer aspect of the school culture.
Upon enrollment, parents sign paperwork agreeing explicitly to these volunteer conditions.
If parent involvement requirements are stripped away, charter school advocates worry that they will be saddled with the same failing model of rural districts hemorrhaging teachers or urban ones that merely warehouse kids in underperforming classrooms.
While Romanova may have a legitimate argument regarding communication – if proven true, ending volunteer requirements will undo the charter school model statewide.
At time of press, neither the plaintiff nor Norther Justice attorneys responded to a request for clarifications regarding why the student’s father was specifically not listed as a co-plaintiff in the opening salvo. Nor would either party say whether the destruction of charter schools was the end goal of this lawsuit.
Nevertheless, the language in the complaint follows typical teacher-union tactics: Sue to regulate, regulate to control, control to kill competition. If this flies, every charter in Alaska will face the same operational challenge.
A defining quality of charter school families is the conviction that schools are built on sweat equity, community grit, and a belief that the answer to failing schools is not merely endless budget increases.
Editor’s note: The author of this story has a student enrolled in Academy Charter School.
18 Comments
If the lawsuit prevails, the parents can still volunteer at the charter schools, they just won’t be forced to by a contract or memoradum or threat of their child being kicked out if they don’t volunteer.
Author of column here -> your comment falls down in a simple thought experiment. These schools need hours and hours and hours of help because Charter schools have to carry ALL of the weight of the facility and operational burden out of the budget that is normally just for staff in Public Schools – that is the trade off for autonomy over the culture of the school. The moment things are not required, they will slowly progress to ignored utterly. This is the human condition, people only respect what you INSPECT. If you switch from must to may, or shall to should, there is an veritable ocean of separation. Imagine as a thought experiment if speed limits were changed to speed encouragements. We “encourage” drivers to go a certain speed though you are free to do as you wish. We “encourage” parents to volunteer though you are free to do as you wish. Initially the results will not be devastating, because volunteering is in the culture of each school. Therein lies the insidious nature of this potential change, which is the nefarious intent. With each successive new class of incoming families, volunteering will be largely ignored because people will always gravitate to what is most convenient and as new families, they won’t have a skin in the culture and as the services will still have to be covered by shoestring budgets, staff will be cut, these schools will shrink instead of expand, and eventually fail under their own operational weight. That is the EXACT point of this lawsuit, and why it is being brought by the same firm who commonly represents the NEA, which loathes charter schools only marginally less than Christian Schools. I believe this will go down in court, as enrollment in Academy is voluntary and agreeing to the requirements are the entire point of selecting a school with a separate CHARTER than typical local Public Schools. No one is forcing anyone to enroll in Academy Charter so saying you are “entitled” to the Academy experience without committing to the Academy Experience is absurd on its face. Clearly the plaintiff wants a special environment (and it is indeed special) for her child, but doesn’t want to have to participate in the very thing that makes the Charter Experience so successful.
Excellent comparison with speed limits.
Wow, this firm commonly represents the NEA, too? What are some examples of it doing so?
but the fear is that all parents will be as lazy as you, sitting on your can, waiting until the 1st & 15th for the check to come instead of investing time in your kids.
Sounds like Mrs Natalia Romanova is a user of a mother. Suing the school her son goes too.
I feel for that child.
You’re right on jake. I spent way over my base time working at Academy when my kids were there and it was great fun actually. Most of the time. My kids were there when it was a bunch of modular buildings. I remembered shoveling dump truck loads of snow out of some of the buildings after big winds. All in all it was good. It’s also good for the kids to see their parents sacrificing for them. There is no free lunch.
My,My! And here I thought speed limit signs were for encouragement only. At least by the number of drivers that drive through Wasilla at 10-15 over the 45 mile suggestion. Last fall I had a car pass me by driving on the Palmer-Wasilla bike path. No consequences do totally encourage law breakers.
The problem with the charter schools in Mat Su is that they remove any students who are underperforming to boost their scores.
Not true. What they do do is expect the a parent to come to class and help their child for the individual attention the child needs. Usually the child has, for one reason or another, been unable to keep up, socialize appropriately, or needs the one-on-one intense teaching that only one teacher in a classroom cannot provide. What the charter schools do do is provide the parent and child every resource available to succeed. I know this is true as my grandson and his cousin went to the same charter school, in the same class, and this scenario was played out. Being able to participate in your child’s education is a real privilege. I enjoyed helping to clean up the classroom after class when my grandson’s mom and dad couldn’t due to work. Anyone can step in to help cover the hours. I’m surprised the plaintiff’s family or friends didn’t do this.
Non-Mat Su Alaskan resident here. Is it to boost scores? Do you have proof? Or is that just cynicism talking?
If low-performing students are indeed removed, perhaps it’s because they require the disproportionate, corrective focus of educators who are there to teach students who wish to learn. Charter school teachers are not there to provide daycare for students who refuse behavioral correction and derail a classroom, or who have families unable or unwilling to support them in charter school goals. After a certain point, it becomes imperative to remove the student from the student body or you harm everyone else’s education. I’ve seen this process play out with my own eyes.
Test scores are only a symptom.
where oh where are you TREG TAYLOR?
Do you think that a charter school in Alaska could make enrollment contingent on whether a child’s parent will do the macarena in the school’s drop off line each morning, based on the notion that it would make the school environment special?
Do you think that a charter school in Alaska could make enrollment contingent on whether a child’s parent will harvest one pound of home-grown carrots each year and donate them to the school, based on the notion that it would make the school environment special?
No… but we do think you ask questions that only you think are funny.
BTW… isn’t this Romanova woman the hashish peddler in the Valley?
BTW II… Romanova would have been provided written (emailed?) warnings in advance of termination. Her claim seems hugely suspect.
I’d make a solid bet that your kids probably can’t read or write above a 4th grade level, might even be convicts with a parent like you.
Who in the hell are you talking to Ak man I hope not me. My kids are adults with kids all doing great ??
Northern Justice Project
Check out their website.
One of the attorneys is the one and only
SAVANNAH VENETIS FLETCHER
She once was the presiding officer for Fairbanks North Star Borough and has 3 ethics charges against her. And is on the Alaska Judicial Council http://ajc.alaska.gov/about/roster.html
https://www.njp-law.com/
Ms. Fletcher, besides being an enemy of Conservatives, Republicans, and of God-fearing family values, has a few more personal foibles to deal with. Stay tuned!