if you live in Waltham or the surrounding area, please read

[elizabear]

In the last few days, there has been some major news in the Waltham area regarding a proposed new charter school. This school would be for "troubled youths" ages 16-24 who have not been able to complete high school due to having a child, incarceration, or other disruption. I really, really hate to have to say it, but I really don't want this school in my town.

I grew up living with at-risk kids. My parents were licensed Foster Parents, and between 1976 and 1992, we estimate that they took in well over 100 kids. Some were just overnight or a weekend, most were with us for 6-8 months, some stayed for 3 years. Sometimes we had as many as 3 at a time. Some came to my house because they were abused, some were unmanageable by their parents, some were unwanted, some were being processed into the court system for various reasons. It was rough and it wasn't always nice, but it at times it was fun, and it was certainly educational.

When I first heard about the proposed charter school, I thought it was a good idea. I knew people like this - people who dropped out of high school to have a baby, people who were arrested for theft or assault and couldn't attend school. But that was in a rural area, and it was 24 years ago (I left home for college in 1984, missing the last few years of foster kids in my parents' home). I had no idea of the scope of the issue in an urban area and in today's culture.

The same organization proposing the charter school is currently running a group home in Waltham. The Waltham police spoke against the charter school at the hearing on Thursday due to the high number of incidents they're already handling with just this small group home population. (See the article below) The proposed charter school wants to have a dorm for at least 100 students - nearly 10 times as many as they currently have at the group home. It's estimated that Waltham currently has nearly 80 halfway homes, group homes, and shelters. If you didn't know the number was that high, it's because the residents and clients and organizations have found ways to work well in the community. The current record for this group doesn't seem to bode as well.

And, it should be noted, one person speaking to support the proposal said himself, "We're not students, we're clients." I think that's a very important differentiation. They're also not children - they're adults. This is not going to be a standard student body by any stretch of the imagination.

More importantly to me as a parent, the proposed charter school would take away funding Waltham is receiving from the state.

The State Treasurer shall make quarterly payments to Commonwealth
charter schools. In making such payments, the Commonwealth shall
reduce each sending district's M.G.L. c. 70 allocation by an amount
sufficient to meet its charter school obligations for the quarter. If
there are insufficient M.G.L. c. 70 funds to meet a district's
obligation, the Commonwealth shall reduce other state aid allocated to
the applicable cities and towns. If there are insufficient state aid
funds of any kind to meet a district's obligation, the Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education shall recommend to the Governor and
legislature that a supplemental appropriation be made to pay any
remaining obligation to the charter school(s).

Yes, the proposal says that the "students" would come from all over the state and that the home districts would be paying for them, but let's be realistic - no one is going to commute from the other parts of the state to attend the proposed school unless they live within half-an-hour or so away. That means many attendees are going to move here, and that means Waltham will end up paying for them out of our current school aid. I happen to think Waltham schools are very good - we have specialists in art, gym, music, drama, and media. We have a full-time librarian and nurse. The PTO fills the gaps and provides money for visiting speakers, enrichment programs, and traveling exhibits. The Plympton principal said Waltham is receiving $5,000 per student from the state; the proposed charter school would be drawing $16,000 per student away from that funding. The proposed charter school would also be entitled to transportation funds, again drawn from Waltham's current aid package.

I always thought that the purpose of a charter school was to meet an underserved need of a district. This is not a proposed school to enhance the education of Waltham residents, and it is not filling a need for the immediate area: Waltham High School has vocational and alternative education programs, as does nearby Lexington Minuteman Academy (the director of which also showed up at the hearing to voice his objections to the proposed charter school). I don't want to see programs cut in my son's school, and I don't want to encourage residency by an element that has already proven its inability to control itself.


Please check out the following news stories from the local paper :
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/x581451711/Public-forum-for-proposed-charter-school-in-Waltham-planned
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/x43170514/School-Committee-slams-charter-school-proposal
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/x337323943/Police-warn-arter-school-may-bring-gangs


Waltham Cable will be airing the public hearing held on Thursday afternoon 12/4/08 at the following times. See for yourself the arguments for and against this proposed charter school, make up your own mind, and let the MA Board of Education know before January 5th at charterschools@doe.mass.edu

Friday, December 5th - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 6th -noon and 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 7th - 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

The hearing will be aired on Waltham's MAC Channel.
Comcast - Channel 98
RCN - Channel 15
Verizon - Channel 43

Comments

[dlevey.livejournal.com]

In theory, the idea of charter schools is OK. In practice, even excluding the population this school intends to serve, they all seem to go like this. A disproportionate amount of money comes from the local town, and the people have to pay for it even when they don't get the sort of control that comes with financing.

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

Talking points, provided by the local school board:

• The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents recommends a moratorium on funding charter schools in the current economic climate because the charter school appropriations are taken from Chapter 70 funds ($250 million per year).
• The Rediscovery Charter School design is not consistent with typical charter schools.
o It is not opened to all students but only students who have dropped out of schools.
o The focus is on students between the ages of 16 and 24, an age range beyond the high school age.
• The proposed school focuses on disenfranchised youth from across the commonwealth and highlights access to Waltham by highway, bus, and train as attractive features to locate the school in Waltham. It is not likely that students will travel long distances to attend the school but will more likely move to a foster home or other housing potentially making students the responsibility of the Waltham Public Schools.
• Parties developing the proposal have not had conversations with local school officials about local efforts to address the needs of disenfranchised youth. In September, Waltham Public Schools began a discussion to use vacant schools in the community for an expanded alternative high school program. Successful programs currently exist in Somerville, Chelsea, Boston, Brookline, Worcester, Brockton, Watertown, Cambridge, Framingham, and many other communities.
• Rediscovery has had mixed success with programs for youth in Waltham. Ten (10) students affiliated with Rediscovery in the Waltham Public Schools have dropped out of school in the past two years each of which spent no more than a few days enrolled in our schools, drop-out and add to our drop-out rate. Other students in this program place an added burden on district resources due to the complexity of their need.
• The 220 students enrolled in the Rediscovery Academy will have an additional financial and programmatic impact on the district. Waltham will be responsible for transportation of this student population within the city limits, our Chapter 70 funds will be reduced by $15,000 per student equaling $150,000 for ten students, $750,000 for fifty students and $1,500,000 for one hundred students. These new costs will have a significant impact on programs and personnel in the Waltham Public Schools
• The age range for the proposed school leaves many questions unanswered regarding the city and district’s responsibility for students between the ages of 18 and 24.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Somewhat related:
My former school district got a reputation for conscientious implementation of IEPs/504s/or whatever they're called in that state, and as a result, over the years, a lot of people from outlying areas moved into town so that their kids could go to the town schools. This has put a lot of strain on resources, as many of these families (not only the kids on IEPs, but their siblings and sometimes parents) were in need of other services as well.

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

More evidence that the attendees would probably be moving into town - this is taken directly from the proposed school's own application document:

With alarming frequency, the youth that Rediscovery, Inc works with are suspended repeatedly, expelled for long periods of time, encouraged to sign themselves out of school to pursue a GED, thus relinquishing any and all 688 rights, and frequently wait while the traditional school system decides which school setting will be the “best fit.” These youth are always 16 years or older. They are typically struggling to graduate from the 9th or 10th grade and will rarely be graduating from the traditional public school system, if at all, by the time they are 18 or 19 years old. For example, as youth move from program to program or foster family to foster family, their town residence and/or school placement is frequently disrupted and the paperwork needed to enroll youth in the new school system can take several weeks to months to follow them. As a result, the traditional public school system refuses to enroll these youth until all of the necessary paperwork is in order. As a result, our youth sit for weeks or months waiting for this to occur and are not educated in any form.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Yep.

I can see why you are concerned, particularly as it seems there are already several options for locally-grown kids and families in need.