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Municipal Services New charter school approved for Worcester
Starting with 14 proposals submitted last August, the state’s education board on Feb. 23 approved a single new charter school to open in Worcester next year.
The new Spirit of Knowledge Charter School is slated to open this fall with 156 students in grades 7 through 9. Eventually, the school will have 275 students in grades 7 through 12, under the terms approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The school was approved by a 6-2 vote of the board, based on a recommendation by Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester.
A second charter school had been recommended for approval, but Chester withdrew the recommendation when it became known that the founders of the proposed school, in Lynn, planned to close a local private school if the state approved their charter.
Worcester estimates that $1.6 million will be deducted from the city’s Chapter 70 education aid next year to pay tuition to the new charter school, with the deduction increasing in future years as enrollment and the state-set tuition amount grow.
The state fully reimburses school districts for any new education aid loss in the first year, but the reimbursement drops to 25 percent in the second year, where it remains for five years.
Worcester already has two large charter schools, with a total enrollment of almost 2,000 students. For fiscal 2011, the city is expected to face charter-school related aid deductions of $21.6 million, with only $2.8 million in reimbursements, based on the governor’s budget recommendation, filed in January.
There are 62 charter schools operating in Massachusetts, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, including 55 private Commonwealth charter schools and seven in-district Horace Mann charter schools. These schools enroll an estimated 26,384 students, about 2.8 percent of all public school students.
Statewide education aid deductions for charter schools in fiscal 2011 are expected to total more than $300 million, based on the governor’s budget bill, with $68 million of the loss reimbursed (less than one-quarter).
At its Jan. 26 meeting, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education revoked the charter for the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School in Springfield, subject to appeal. The revocation stemmed from widespread cheating on MCAS tests at the school and continued concern about governance at the school.
The board also renewed the charter for the 150-student Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School in Lowell for five years, with the condition that the school administer its special education program consistent with state law.
Municipal Services New charter school approved for Worcester
New charter school approved for Worcester
Starting with 14 proposals submitted last August, the state’s education board on Feb. 23 approved a single new charter school to open in Worcester next year.
The new Spirit of Knowledge Charter School is slated to open this fall with 156 students in grades 7 through 9. Eventually, the school will have 275 students in grades 7 through 12, under the terms approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The school was approved by a 6-2 vote of the board, based on a recommendation by Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester.
A second charter school had been recommended for approval, but Chester withdrew the recommendation when it became known that the founders of the proposed school, in Lynn, planned to close a local private school if the state approved their charter.
Worcester estimates that $1.6 million will be deducted from the city’s Chapter 70 education aid next year to pay tuition to the new charter school, with the deduction increasing in future years as enrollment and the state-set tuition amount grow.
The state fully reimburses school districts for any new education aid loss in the first year, but the reimbursement drops to 25 percent in the second year, where it remains for five years.
Worcester already has two large charter schools, with a total enrollment of almost 2,000 students. For fiscal 2011, the city is expected to face charter-school related aid deductions of $21.6 million, with only $2.8 million in reimbursements, based on the governor’s budget recommendation, filed in January.
There are 62 charter schools operating in Massachusetts, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, including 55 private Commonwealth charter schools and seven in-district Horace Mann charter schools. These schools enroll an estimated 26,384 students, about 2.8 percent of all public school students.
Statewide education aid deductions for charter schools in fiscal 2011 are expected to total more than $300 million, based on the governor’s budget bill, with $68 million of the loss reimbursed (less than one-quarter).
At its Jan. 26 meeting, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education revoked the charter for the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School in Springfield, subject to appeal. The revocation stemmed from widespread cheating on MCAS tests at the school and continued concern about governance at the school.
The board also renewed the charter for the 150-student Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School in Lowell for five years, with the condition that the school administer its special education program consistent with state law.
Written by MMA Legislative Director John Robertson
