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For Immediate Release
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Contact:Jacqueline Reis 781-338-3115

Founders of Seven Proposed Charter Schools to Submit Full Applications

MALDEN - The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education today invited the founders of six proposed Commonwealth charter schools to move to the next stage of the 2015–16 charter school application process and submit a full application. In addition, ESE will advance to the final application stage a proposal to grow a charter school network under a one-stage process for eligible, existing charter school boards of trustees. Final applications are due back to ESE by Nov. 4, 2015. Once applications are received, ESE staff and external review panelists with expertise in education, business, law, and governance will review and evaluate each of the applications. In addition, ESE will hold public hearings in the areas where the founding groups propose to open a school. The Department will also conduct a review of any public comment submitted. Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester will then review all of the materials and make his recommendation on awarding new charters to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Board will vote on new charters at its February 2016 meeting. Groups hoping to open new charter schools in Massachusetts submitted 10 prospectuses in July. After the deadline, the proposed International Academy of Western Massachusetts Charter School applicant group withdrew their prospectus from consideration. The Department also previously received three letters of intent from groups planning to add a school to an existing charter school network or to create a network by adding a school. One of those, Brooke Charter Schools, later indicated that they will pursue a charter amendment instead and do not intend to submit a new school application. Another, UP Academy Charter School of Boston — 2016, has decided not to submit a new school application. The groups invited to submit full applications are:
Proposed Commonwealth Charter SchoolDistrict or RegionOpening YearGradesProposed Maximum Enrollment
Central Square Public Charter School*Lynn20175–12640
International Academy of Montachusett Charter SchoolFitchburg, Leominster, Clinton, North Middlesex Regional, Wachusett Regional2016K–121,168
Libertas Preparatory Charter School*Springfield20176–12630
New Heights Charter School of Brockton*Brockton, Taunton, Randolph20166–12735
Old Sturbridge Academy Charter Public SchoolBrimfield, Brookfield, Dudley-Charlton, Holland, Monson, Sturbridge, Palmer, Wales, Warren, Webster, West Brookfield, Tantasqua, Quaboag, Spencer-East Brookfield, Southbridge2016K–8360
Weetumuw Wôpanâak Charter SchoolBarnstable, Bourne, Dennis-Yarmouth, Falmouth, Mashpee, Monomoy, Nauset, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro2016K–8165
Proposed Charter School
(Existing Board of Trustees)		 District or RegionOpening YearGradesProposed Maximum Enrollment
Hampden Charter School of Science-Holyoke*Holyoke, Westfield, Agawam20166–12560
*Indicates that this proposed charter school would serve a district or region that, based on current analysis, is among the lowest performing 10 percent in the state. The charter school statute requires that at least two Commonwealth charters be awarded in districts or regions identified as performing in the lowest 10 percent before any additional Commonwealth charters may be awarded. (Horace Mann charters, which require the approval of the local school committee, are not constrained by this requirement.) Hampden Charter School of Science, which operates a Commonwealth charter school serving students in grades 6–12 from Chicopee, Ludlow, Springfield, and West Springfield, is seeking to open a second Commonwealth charter school that would replicate its current school to serve students from different communities. Commonwealth charter schools are fully autonomous and operate independently of the local school district. Horace Mann charter schools are developed and operated in close cooperation with the host school district and require approval of the local school committee. Charter schools are open to all Massachusetts students, with enrollment preference given to students in the district or region where the school is located. About the cap on charter schools: In January 2010, the Achievement Gap Act raised the charter school cap in the lowest performing school districts and made a number of changes to the charter authorizing process. Under that law, the cap on district net school spending is rising in incremental steps from 9 percent to a maximum of 18 percent. The cap lift only applies to districts where academic performance is in the lowest 10 percent of the state as measured by MCAS. Applicants under the cap lift must have a proven track record of success in increasing academic achievement and must commit to working with a diverse population of students. There are approximately 80 charter schools in Massachusetts serving approximately 40,000 students. For more information, visit charter schools.



Last Updated: September 23, 2015



 
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