It's clear that the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School — despite a badly tainted state approval process and other issues hurting its credibility — is moving toward opening this fall.
It has a location — now firmed up as the former Cape Ann Medical Center building in Blackburn Industrial Park. It is negotiating to hire heads of the school.
And it now has 110 applications — close to its goal of 120, setting the stage for a lottery being planned for today to determine who gets the first choices for at least some of the grades.
What is on the surface, however, may not entirely be the reality — and that may pose a few problems.
As of two weeks ago, there were only 57 applicants. It wasn't until the school founders made a recruiting push that included a chance to win a $250 gift certificate to Target or Best Buy that the applications spiked last week. The school has until March 19 — or this Friday — to report its expected enrollment to the state.
There may be really nothing unethical about offering a chance at a gift certificate for applying. But, in this case, it could give a distorted picture of the real demand for the school — and at a very bad time.
Especially at the start, charter officials should be dealing with realism — they should want only legitimate applicants motivated by a desire for a better education, not by some other financial incentive. And both the charter school and the rest of the city's school district need to get a real handle on the number of students and parents who legitimately want to change places in September.
Amid the continuing controversy, there are messages within the charter applications that should catch the attention of school district officials.
At the start, the charter will be opening to just grades 4-7. And there are fewer than 30 applications for all the grades except grade 6, which has 39. That indicates a concern among parents for children who are about to enter O'Maley Middle School. That's a lingering issue.
But the bottom line remains that the new charter school and its backers are careening toward a September opening when there are still too many questions up in the air. And if the GCACS is to open its doors this fall, let's try to get a firm grip on how many kids and their families really are looking to walk through those doors in September.
Adding a $250 big-box store deal to the application pitch only clouds a picture that needs to be cleared — fast.
