The news on Friday was that Commissioner Chester no longer believes the GCACS is viable and recommends that parents get their children enrolled in district schools Monday:
http://www.gloucestertimes.com…
http://www.boston.com/news/edu…
While a thorough read of the letter from him to the GCACS makes it clear that the volumes of problems plaguing the opening of this school makes it inconceivable that they will open their doors before next Friday (their 19-month deadline for opening their doors), it appears that they are pushing forward as if the Commissioner’s recent decision is more of a suggestion than a notice that the school is dead.
Please share widely!
http://www.wickedlocal.com/glo…
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p>The following is Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester’s Sept. 17 letter to Anthony Blackman, executive director of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School:
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p>I am writing to deny your request to open the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School (GCACS) in Rockport on Monday, September 20, 2010, and to recommend that the students who had planned to attend the school instead enroll in their home districts for the duration of the 2010-2011 school year.
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p>I am guided in my decision-making first and foremost by what is in the best interests of the children involved. We are already more than halfway through the first month of the school year and, for a variety of reasons, the students intending to enroll at GCACS have still not had their first day of school.
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p>In addition, I am deeply concerned that the GCACS Board of Trustees has failed to manage the opening of the school effectively and in compliance with state law. The Office of the Attorney General, at the request of the Inspector General, examined and this week concluded that the procurement processes employed by GCACS to secure the Cape Ann Medical Office Building in Gloucester and the temporary modular structures on that site were in violation of state statute. The school’s repeated delays in opening, when coupled with the recent findings of the Attorney General’s Office and allegations about the school’s actions in the Inspector General’s September 17, 2010 letter, leave me with no confidence that the GCACS board can satisfy its obligations under state law and under its own charter before the charter expires on Friday, September 24. As a result, I no longer believe that GCACS is viable.
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p>I recognize that the school’s founders, board of trustees, and students and families had high hopes for GCACS, and it is most unfortunate that we are now in this position. Nevertheless, it is my duty as Commissioner to make a judgment as to whether your school can remain faithful to its charter, which includes complying with all relevant state laws and regulations.
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p>I am contacting Acting Superintendent Connelly to ensure that the re-enrollment of students into the Gloucester District Schools is as smooth and efficient as possible for all involved.
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p>Mitchell Chester
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p>Commissioner of Education
…could Chester have been clearer?
You would be surprised at the extent to which his every word and phrase has been parsed to “prove” that this letter did not, in fact, put an end to the charter.
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p>In Gloucester today, dozens of families wait hopefully for the word that, just as they told each other all weekend, the charter will be open for business and going strong before Friday.
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p>Pitiful, perhaps. But true.
It would be most helpful if Chester or someone from his office could clarify–for those charter parents and staff who are clinging to the possibility that there is a “message to keep on trying to open” hidden in Chester’s words–that he did not, in fact, mean to suggest that opening by Friday is still possible, given all that Chester listed as his reasons for declaring that it is not “viable.”
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p>A direct quote from a parent,for example: “He didn’t say it couldn’t open. He only said it is not viable.”
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p>The so-called leadership of the Charter have done nothing since Friday evening to dissuade this perception, nothing to address the contents of Chester’s letter except to point to the nearness of the modulars to being “ready.”
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p>Most charter parents did not go to the meeting by the district meant to ease children’s transition back to the regular schools. Most, in fact, stood outside the building and protested that it’s all a trick, getting them to pull kids out of the charter so too few kids are enrolled and it collapses on itself.
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p>Several distraught charter parents, via blog entries at the local newspaper, encouraged parents to boycott that meeting, and to keep their kids out of “regular” school this week because they expect their charter to open by Friday.
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p>It would be heartening to think that, were Chester aware of this, he would not simply turn his back on these children being kept out of school yet one more week out of some daft belief that the words “not viable” leave wiggle room for rescue.
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p>This, people, has been a farce from the start, and it has cost Deval Patrick a serious segment of voters here (many of us who carried posters for him last time) who no longer see him as the “education” anything. His bumbling education secretary and commissioner have opened many eyes to the nasty under-a-rock realities of how things get done, and for whom. Children on both sides of this debacle are last on that list of “for whom” as far as Gloucester is concerned, and we will not be forgetting that in November.
You’re absolutely right.
It turns out that another chink in the viability argument was discovered last night thanks to our friends at Google — the woman who was hired as Head of School apparently jumped ship some time in August for a school up in Maine — though this wasn’t publicly revealed. It’s not clear whether the stalwart charter parents who have dug in deep even know that she is no longer their principal.
One would hope that the myriad lessons of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School won’t be lost on the BESE as they begin the process of a vetting the largest batch of applications every — I think over 40. If the process of the GCACS and the continuous missteps that plagued this beast from day one is an indicator of things to come I shudder to think what will happen in the coming year.
I’ve put up the numbers we got on Worcester’s (and the state’s) newest charter school, Spirit of Knowledge Academy. SoKA was opened VERY CLEARLY under the new ed law, that spelled out that charters have to match their surrounding communities in demographics.
SoKA, no surprise, doesn’t.
And yes, JG, I wonder if the BESE is paying any attention that, either.
Since the Friday letter apparently wasn’t clear enough, Mitchell Chester has clarified his position in a new letter sent to the GCACS board yesterday. With a couple score of applications for new charter schools sitting on the Commissioner’s desk, having this colossal embarrassment of the GCACS, coupled with its disturbing precedent that neither due process nor gross incompetence seem to matter in the scheme of things, I can only imagine that the coming months are going to be a challenging one at the DESE.
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p>By the way, note the line near the bottom where the Commissioner articulates his justified annoyance that the GCACS board failed to mention the little fact that their principal had resigned over a month ago and no one bothered to give the DESE the heads up… A great way to solidify trust, transparency and accountability….
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p>September 22, 2010
Amy Ballin By email and certified mail
Chair, Board of Trustees
Gloucester Community Arts Charter School
P.O. Box 1631
Gloucester, MA 01930
Dear Ms. Ballin:
I am writing to strongly urge you not to open the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School (GCACS). I am aware that, despite concerns I articulated in my letter of Friday, September 17, 2010, and despite my recommendation that students planning to attend GCACS should return to their home districts, plans are still underway to open the school. Given the current uncertainties, there is a very real possibility that if GCACS opens, it will have to close during the school year, creating a serious and unnecessary disruption for students and their families. For that reason, it is in the best interest of these students to return to their home districts for the 2010-11 school year.
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p>To be clear: I no longer believe that this school is viable. If you choose to proceed with the opening of GCACS, you will leave me no choice but to call a special meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and to recommend that the Board take immediate action with respect to the school’s charter. This action could include, but is not limited to, revocation.
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p>Recent findings and allegations that the school has violated state law have further undermined my confidence in this school. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) issued a finding on September 15, 2010, that the GCACS violated multiple state laws pertaining to procurement and construction of its school facilities. The AGO found that the GCACS violated the public construction bidding law, the designer selection law and the modular construction law. The Inspector General’s Office has also raised several serious allegations. For these and other reasons, it is apparent to me the GCACS board has badly mismanaged the opening of this school, which has already been delayed more than three weeks. This delay alone raises serious doubts about the ability of the GCACS board to effectively open and operate the school.
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p>In addition, we just learned that several weeks ago the school’s principal resigned and left for another position out of state. We learned this through the media, not directly from the school.
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p>All of these issues, coupled with growing uncertainty around the school’s enrollment, leave the financial viability of this school in serious jeopardy. As these issues continue to unfold, students
planning to attend GCACS may leave the school for a more secure option.
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p>Because the school’s finances are directly tied to enrollment, it is not at all clear to me that the school will qualify for the funding it will need to operate in compliance with its charter and state law.
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p>My primary concern is that attempting to open a charter school in the midst of all these circumstances is not in the best interest of the students.
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p>Consequently, based on all of these facts, I strongly urge the school’s board of trustees to take the responsible course and not open GCACS. I continue to encourage the families of enrolled students to immediately enroll their children in their home districts.
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p>Sincerely,
Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D.
Commissioner