Philadelphia charter school will close nightclub that operated in cafeteria during off-hours

Philly charter school says nightclub will close

PHILADELPHIA — A charter school cafeteria will no longer double as a nightclub on nights and weekends, city education officials announced Wednesday after inspecting the facility.

Owners of the Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School told officials they have removed all banquet supplies and equipment, including alcohol, from their building, which on weekdays educates about 450 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Philadelphia district officials had demanded an end to the school’s arrangement with Club Damani, which had been operating on the premises during off-hours despite an expired liquor license.

Officials toured the school Wednesday to ensure there were no “traces of anything that was unacceptable in a learning environment,” district spokeswoman Evelyn Sample-Oates said.

“They were very accommodating to let us look around — every closet, every room,” Sample-Oates said. “It was fine.”

A representative for Harambee, which is on spring break this week, could not be reached for comment. Several listed phone numbers for Club Damani did not work.

As a charter school, Harambee receives about $3.5 million annually in public funds but operates independently of the school district. It is one of 13 charter schools under investigation by the city comptroller for allegations of questionable spending practices.

The school’s relationship to Club Damani went largely unnoticed by officials until a TV report last weekend, despite what appears to be years of promotional listings and advertising for the nightspot.

News of its closure pleased Kathleen Revels, 64, who lives near the school and said she has put up with club-related noise, trash, parking problems and drunken behavior for too long.

“For eight years I’ve been trying to get this place closed down or make it livable for the neighbors,” Revels said Wednesday.

Harambee’s facility in West Philadelphia was once an Italian-American social club that had held a liquor license since 1936. After the school bought the property several years ago, the club transferred the license to the Harambee Institute. The permit expired in 2008.

The license transfer in 2002 had the support of the school’s then-president, who indicated that a banquet facility on the premises would not interfere with school activities, according to a letter on file with the state Liquor Control Board.

Some district officials were aware of the liquor license soon after Harambee acquired it. A January 2003 memo from district counsel to top administrators suggested holding a public hearing on the matter, according to a district statement released Wednesday.

However, there was no evidence the hearing was ever held, the statement said.

The staff attorney who wrote the memo no longer works for the district, the statement said. Current Superintendent Arlene Ackerman arrived in 2008.

The attorney’s memo said that in March 2001, as part of the charter renewal process, Harambee noted its recent purchase of the Italian-American club. Harambee gave no indication then or in subsequent reports that a nightclub would be operating there, according to the district’s statement.