Massachusetts Charter School Waitlist Updated Report for 2022-2023 (FY23)

As of October 3, 2022 (Posted December 2022)

Each spring, charter schools send the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) the number of students enrolled for the upcoming school year as well as the number of students who were placed on the schools' waitlists through each school's initial lottery, which is typically held in February or March. The Department's March 2022 waitlist collection included students who applied for admission for the 2022-2023 school year (the initial waitlist).

The information provided below is an update to the initial (March 2022) waitlist data as of October 3, 2022. The information reflects late offers of admissions, which may result in acceptances or declines, as well as any new lotteries for seats that may have opened up over the summer and into the school year.

For the March 2022 initial waitlist, 66 out of 76¹ charter schools had waitlists for which they reported 35,776 entries, with 21,110 unique students identified. Of that student headcount, 21,091 unique students newly applied for admittance to at least one charter school for the 2022-2023 school year; the remaining 19 unique students applied for admittance prior to March 2014.²

The information provided below reflects the number of students who applied to charter schools for the 2022-2023 school year (FY23), but did not gain admittance and were reported on a charter school waitlist as of October 3, 2022. This updated 2022-2023 waitlist report finds the following:

Of the 66 charter schools who submitted initial waitlist data in March 2022, 63 continued to maintain a waitlist as of October 3, 2022.
Additionally, one charter school, who did not report a waitlist in March 2022, reported maintaining a waitlist as of October 3, 2022.
The updated charter school waitlists contained 35,776 entries on all waitlists, representing 17,499 unique students.
- Of the 17,499 unique students, 17,488 unique students newly applied for admittance to at least one charter school for the 2022-2023 school year.
- Of the 19 students who were reported in March 2022 as waitlisted prior to March 31, 2014, only 11 students remained on a waitlist as of October 3, 2022.
Of the unique students, 13,512 students appear on a single waitlist and 3,987 students (22.8 percent) appear on more than one waitlist.

**Figure 1.** Unique Number of Students on Charter School Waitlists
Number of Waitlists a Student Appears On	Unique (Unduplicated) Number of Students on Charter School Waitlist(s)	Waitlist Status
Number of Waitlists a Student Appears On		Unique (Unduplicated) Number of Students who Applied for Admittance and Were Waitlisted Prior to March 31, 2014	Unique (Unduplicated) Number of Students who Applied for Admittance for the 2022-2023 School Year and were Waitlisted
1	13,512	11	13,501
2	1,920	0	1,920
3	705	0	705
4	429	0	429
5	339	0	339
6	260	0	260
7	165	0	165
8	120	0	120
9	31	0	31
10	11	0	11
11	5	0	5
12	1	0	1
14	1	0	1
Total	17,499	11	17,488

In 2014, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted regulations requiring charter schools to refresh their waitlists every year, based on the most recent application cycle. These regulations, however, allowed schools to keep students on their waitlists who submitted applications before March 31, 2014. As shown in Figure 2, one school continues to include such students from prior years on their active waitlists. This charter school waitlist report update found that 10,426 student records were removed from the total March 2022 initial waitlist report. Charter schools reported that 25,350 student records remained on their waitlists as of October 3, 2022, while an additional 1,673 student records were added to their waitlists after March 15, 2022. The table below (Figure 2) also identifies charter schools that have held subsequent lotteries and the number of students who were added to these school's waitlists.

**Figure 2.** Total Number of Applications Reported on Charter School Waitlists
School Name	Type	Total Number of Applicants Reported on Initial Waitlists as of March 15, 2022	Applicants Reported on Initial Waitlists that were Removed as of October 3, 2022	Applicants Added to Waitlists after March 15, 2022 as of October 3, 2022	Total Number of Applicants Reported on Updated Waitlists as of October 3, 2022
Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School	Common-wealth (CW)	603	87		516
Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School*	CW	467	239		228
Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School	CW	887	62		825
Alma del Mar Charter School	CW	579	84		495
Argosy Collegiate Charter School	CW	109	77	149	181
Atlantis Charter School†	CW	384	60		324
Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School	CW	113	19		94
Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School	CW	506	94		412
Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School	CW	52	32	48	68
Boston Collegiate Charter School*	CW	1,323	683		640
Boston Day and Evening Academy Charter School	Horace Mann (HM)	53	27	26	52
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter School	HM	209	92		117
Boston Preparatory Charter Public School*	CW	877	715		162
Boston Renaissance Charter Public School*	CW	966	57		909
Bridge Boston Charter School*	CW	1,721	113		1,608
Brooke Charter School*	CW	3,141	887		2,254
Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School	CW	238	59		179
Christa McAuliffe Charter Public School	CW	6	6		0
City on a Hill Charter Public School*	CW	210	210		0
Codman Academy Charter Public School*	CW	1,637	430		1,207
Collegiate Charter School of Lowell	CW	359	198	124	285
Community Charter School of Cambridge	CW	18	11	5	12
Community Day Charter Public School	CW	1,135	40		1,095
Conservatory Lab Charter School*	CW	1,875	374	5	1,506
Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School	HM	35	27	28	36
Edward M Kennedy Academy for Health Careers (Horace Mann)	HM	400	296		104
Excel Academy Charter School*	CW	1,163	404	19	778
Four Rivers Charter Public School	CW	58	39	20	39
Foxborough Regional Charter School	CW	737	482		255
Francis W Parker Charter Essential School	CW	136	118		18
Global Learning Charter Public School	CW	203	76	31	158
Hampden Charter School of Science East	CW	221	184	65	102
Hampden Charter School of Science West	CW	153	131	6	28
Hill View Montessori Charter Public School	CW	318	48		270
Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School	CW	200	32		168
Innovation Academy Charter School	CW	280	142	6	144
KIPP Academy Boston Charter School*	CW	1,232	99		1,133
KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School	CW	1,834	77		1,757
Lawrence Family Development Charter School	CW	312	49		263
Learning First Charter Public School	CW	239	91	30	178
Libertas Academy Charter School	CW	8	8		0
Lowell Community Charter Public School	CW	202	84		118
Map Academy Charter School	CW	0	0	10	10
Marblehead Community Charter Public School	CW	130	130	13	13
Martha's Vineyard Charter School	CW	25	20	11	16
Martin Luther King Jr Charter School of Excellence	CW	42	27	33	48
Match Charter Public School*	CW	2,180	895		1,285
Mystic Valley Regional Charter School	CW	1,609	91		1,518
Neighborhood House Charter School*	CW	1,436	451	90	1,075
New Heights Charter School of Brockton	CW	171	89	305	387
Old Sturbridge Academy Charter Public School	CW	406	63	7	350
Pioneer Charter School of Science	CW	1,321	96	345	1,570
Pioneer Charter School of Science II	CW	568	325	139	382
Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School	CW	166	99	29	96
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School	CW	175	123		52
Prospect Hill Academy Charter School	CW	25	25	4	4
Rising Tide Charter Public School	CW	212	104		108
River Valley Charter School	CW	144	41		103
Roxbury Preparatory Charter School*	CW	14	1	4	17
Salem Academy Charter School	CW	201	63		138
Sizer School: A North Central Charter Essential School	CW	32	31	9	10
South Shore Charter Public School	CW	554	241	10	323
Springfield International Charter School†	CW	159	155	93	97
Springfield Preparatory Charter School	CW	600	77		523
Sturgis Charter Public School	CW	292	170		122
UP Academy Charter School of Dorchester	HM	38	4		34
Veritas Preparatory Charter School	CW	77	62	9	24
Commonwealth (CW) Subtotal		35,041	9,980	1,619	26,680
Horace Mann (HM) Subtotal		735	446	54	343
Grand Total		35,776	10,426	1,673	27,023

Please note that the total number represents every student record found on each charter school's submitted updated waitlist.

† These two schools have indicated to the Department that they included waitlist information established prior to March 31, 2014 in accordance to 603 CMR 1.05(10)(a). Atlantis Charter School reported that 11 students who were waitlisted prior to March 31, 2014 remained on the school's waitlist as of October 3, 2022. Springfield International Charter School reported that the school exhausted its waitlist that was established prior to March 31, 2014.

* Of the 16 schools that utilized the Boston Charter School Application online application system, 13 schools still maintained a waitlist as of October 3, 2022.

The unique waitlist counts provided in this current report should be taken as the Department's best understanding and representation of the updated demand for the current 2022-2023 school year rather than exact numbers of students willing to accept offers at each school.

Each charter school is responsible for maintaining its own individual waitlist. To ensure uniformity, the Department created a waitlist collection template and required charter schools to use it to update waitlist data that was originally submitted by March 15, 2022, as well as input any new waitlist data. This template embedded tools that automatically flagged duplicate records, which each school could then remove before submitting its waitlist. The template also embedded tools that flagged the waitlist for other inconsistencies, such as unrealistic dates of birth (e.g., 2/28/2021) and student age. In order to verify student information and address overall waitlist accuracy, the Department corrected any transcription errors or inconsistencies in submitted charter school waitlists. Additionally, charter schools that self-identified as using waitlists established prior to March 31, 2014, as permitted by 603 CMR 1.05(10)(a), were required to identify each individual student who was included in those waitlists (and continued to remain on their waitlist) and each student who was removed from those waitlists. Finally, the Department continues to implement its matching process to increase accuracy in identifying students who applied for admission and were waitlisted at more than one charter school.

The Department thanks all of the charter school administrators and staff who worked diligently to report their waitlists as accurately as possible. The Department appreciates the efforts made by schools to submit their waitlists as promptly as possible.

The appendix to this report contains the following numbers based on an October 3, 2022 data collection:

the unique numbers of students on waitlists;
the total number of pre-March 2014 applicants, remaining current year applicants reported on charter school waitlists by March 15, 2022, and current year applicants reported on charter school waitlists after March 15, 2022;
the unique number of students on waitlists by grade;
the unique number of students on waitlists by city/town;
the total number of students on waitlists for each charter school by grade (with backfilling overlay);
the total number of students on waitlists, by grade, for each charter school that includes pre-March 2014 applicants on their waitlist;
the unique number of students on waitlists by city/town and grade; and
the total number of students on waitlists for each charter school by city/town by grade.

For more information on waitlist policy and procedures and the number of students found on previous cycles of charter school waitlists, see Charter School Technical Advisory 16-3: Enrollment Processes and FAQ's and Charter Schools Enrollemnt website, respectively. For further information regarding this report, please contact Brenton Stewart or the Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign at charterschools@doe.mass.edu .

Attachments

¹ Please note that the reduction in the number of charters overall is due to the consolidation of three schools into one school for FY23.

² The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted changes to the charter school regulations in March 2014 (see 603 CMR 1.05(10)(a)), which has affected how charter schools collect waitlist data. Under the amended regulations, charter schools maintain waitlists only for the school year for which students applied (i.e., carrying over student names from enrollment lotteries from one year to another is no longer permitted). However, charter schools were allowed to maintain any waitlists that were established prior to March 31, 2014 until such waitlists are exhausted, provided that such maintenance is clearly articulated in the school's enrollment policy approved by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Last Updated: December 21, 2022