District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Charter Schools - Approval of Charter Amendment Request for Phoenix Charter Academy

Pursuant to the Charter School Regulations, 603 CMR 1.11(1), the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (Board) must approve major changes to the material terms of a school's charter, including changes to a school's chartered region and location of facilities, if such change involves relocating or expanding to another municipality.

Phoenix Charter Academy (PCA) is a regional Commonwealth charter school beginning its third year of operation and is currently chartered to serve the districts of Chelsea, Lynn, and Revere. The Board of Trustees of PCA requests approval for two related charter amendments: (1) to add the district of Everett to the charter school's region; and (2) to relocate the school's facility from Chelsea to one that is located in both Chelsea and Everett.

PCA's current facility is insufficient to meet the needs of the school's growing student body. The new facility, which is located in both Chelsea and Everett, has enough space to meet all of the school's future growth needs, and PCA intends for this site to be its permanent home. In particular, the new space has adequate accessible space to house the daycare services provided to the school's teenage parents. PCA's request to include the city of Everett in its region is due to this unusual situation.

As required by 603 CMR 1.11(5), for amendment requests that seek to change a charter school's region or the municipality of its location, the Department solicited written comment from the superintendents of affected school districts. The Superintendent of the Chelsea Public Schools submitted an endorsement of the school's amendment request, stating that "our experience with the Phoenix Charter Academy has been consistently positive and complementary to the mission of the Chelsea Public Schools."

The Department has reviewed these requests, and they appear reasonable and consistent with the charter school statute and regulations. I recommend that the Board approve these requests as presented. If you have any questions regarding these amendments, please contact Mary Street, Director of Charter Schools, at 781-338-3200; Jeff Wulfson, Associate Commissioner, at 781-338-6500; or me.