Proposed new charter school

[klauspood.livejournal.com]

There is a proposal for a new charter school in Somerville. The state (DESE) will be reviewing the application for the next few weeks and will possibly grant the charter on February 28th. If granted this charter school will undermine the existing Somerville Public Schools by reducing school funding by nearly $5 million a year, which is almost 10% of the current school budget. This cut in funding will lead to devastating cuts in public school programs, loss of 60 -75 teachers, and potentially closure of an entire school. This would represent a huge set back for public education in Somerville, setting back much of the progress that has been made in our schools in the last 25 years.

There will be a public hearing by the DESE on this on December 14 2011 at Somerville High School. More info can be found at:

https://sites.google.com/site/progresstogetherforsomerville

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/21168

http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=6532

Comments

[klauspood.livejournal.com]

Here is an update on the costs to the existing schools:

Year one: 100% reimbursement for 180 students, no loss to the district schools.

Year two: no new students, 25% reimbursement for 180 students. 180 x .75 x $13,000 = $1.75 million loss to district schools.

Year three: 60 new students whose costs are fully reimbursed. Same $1.75 million loss to the district schools.

Year four: 60 new students fully reimbursed, 240 students reimbursed at 25%. 240 x .75 x $13,000 = $2.34 million loss to district schools.

Year five: 60 new students, 300 reimbursed at 25%. 300 x .75 x $13,000 = $2.925 million loss to district schools.

Year six: 360 students reimbursed at 25%. 360 x .75 x $13,000 = $3.51 million.

There are other factors such as the mix of students – the city will pay more if the school succeeds in attracting English Language Learners (kids who aren’t fluent in English) than if the school falls short. This may have something to do with why the School Department’s numbers are higher, I don’t know.

But even with the charter organizers’ numbers, these are very big cuts.

Keep in mind, the total budget of an elementary school, like the Brown School is $1.7 million. The Winter Hill Community schools budget is $3.7 million.

By year two , we lose an entire school.