Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to vote February 27
MALDEN – Elementary and Secondary Education Acting Commissioner Jeff Wulfson is recommending that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education grant a charter to a group seeking to open a new regional charter school in Lawrence.
At the Board’s February 27, 2018 meeting, Commissioner Wulfson will recommend approval of
Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School, Lawrence, which would open in Lawrence in 2018 and initially serve 175 students in grades 9-12 from Lawrence, Haverhill and Methuen. The school would grow to serve 250 students. Like the existing Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School, Chelsea and Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School, Springfield, the proposed school would offer a program intended to serve students who are at risk of dropping out of school or who previously dropped out of school.
“After careful review, I am pleased to recommend that the Board award a charter to Phoenix Academy Public Charter High School in Lawrence, which like its sister schools will serve students who are at risk of dropping out of high school or who have dropped out previously,” Commissioner Wulfson said.
As part of the 2017-18 charter school application cycle, ESE received three prospectuses to open new charter schools and one letter of intent from an existing school to open an additional school. In September, Commissioner Wulfson invited the founders of two of those groups to submit final applications. Of those, he is recommending just one for approval.
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will decide whether to grant the charter to the recommended school at its February 27, 2018 meeting in Malden.
In addition to considering whether to award new charters every year, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education also considers whether to grant expansion requests. Commissioner Wulfson is recommending just one: Veritas Preparatory Charter School’s request to increase enrollment at its school in Springfield by 108 seats.
More information on the Phoenix application is available online.
Many communities still have room for new charter school seats under existing caps, which limit the amount of net school spending a school district can spend on charter school tuition. The Phoenix proposal would serve a region (Lawrence, Haverhill and Methuen) that is still below its cap.
