News

Supporters say charter school could offer city some savings

By Patrick Anderson
Staff Writer
Published: December 5, 2008

Escalating debate over a proposed charter school is reaching beyond the merits of the school itself into an examination of all facets of education in the city.

As school officials this week refined increasingly dire predictions about the impact of a charter — highlighted by ballooning class sizes and shuttered elementary schools — proponents of the new school said the district was missing potential cost savings that could offset the money used to open a charter school, without closing any neighborhood schools.

Although charter proponents have built their proposal around providing greater choice for public school parents, a second tier to their pitch is that Gloucester Public Schools today are not using tax dollars efficiently as they could.

To make the case that Gloucester is currently not getting the most from its resources, the charter founding group has pointed to a group of districts considered similar in demographics to Gloucester who spend fewer dollars per student and have far lower rates of children leaving their districts through the state's school choice policy.

"These communities can educate their students better for less. Why?" Peter Van Ness, chairman of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School Board of Trustees, said yesterday. "We need to stop business as usual."

Of 10 districts considered similar to Gloucester in "structure, wealth and enrollment" by the state, including Danvers, Stoughton and Dracut, only two spent more per pupil than Gloucester, but all had fewer students leaving for other public schools.

To reduce costs and make up for the funding going to the charter school, Van Ness suggested consolidating city and school services and leasing unused school buildings such as Fuller School.

School Committee Chairman Greg Verga yesterday called the assertion that Gloucester was spending its education dollars inefficiently "off base" considering the budget cuts that the district has made since 2002.

"Every year we are crying for money; if someone has suggestions, we would love to hear it," Verga said. "They have yet to come forward with any suggestions. To imply that we are not spending wisely is ridiculous."

Verga said much of the city's education budget was dictated by fixed costs.

The state funds charter schools by redirecting local aid dollars to the charter that would have gone to the host district. The amount is determined by the number of students attending the charter.

Based on the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School's 240-student projected enrollment, Gloucester Public Schools have estimated that they will lose $2.4 million annually once the charter is filled and three-year staggered state reimbursement ends.

In the first year the district is fully reimbursed, in the second year 60 percent reimbursed and third year 30 percent reimbursed. By the time the reimbursement ends, the district will have fewer students to educate and, as a result, presumably lower costs.

Superintendent Christopher Farmer has estimated that to make up for the loss of $2.4 million, the district would likely have to increase class sizes at the middle school and combine two elementary schools.

Farmer has said that the cost of running the school system typically does not decrease proportionally with each student that leaves for a charter, because the schools are left with the same number of buildings to run and in some grades not enough students leave to close a classroom.

In offering some broad-stroke ideas for how the district could cut costs without closing schools, Van Ness, who said he was waiting for more detailed budget district budget information to make more specific recommendations, suggested leasing the now-closed Fuller school. The charter school founding group — which has not identified a location for its school — has previously proposed leasing Fuller itself to host the charter.

Verga has said that he would not consider leasing even part of Fuller to a charter school.

To reduce the costs of the district itself, Van Ness suggested the district could examine combining duplicate city and schools services, such as maintenance, that the schools and city now do separately.

Both the leasing of Fuller, a building the city is currently studying what to do with, and the combining of city and school services expand the discussions outside of areas controlled by the schools to questions involving the whole city.

City Councilor Jason Grow, who has been critical of the charter school, said including Fuller as a resource in balancing school budgets was "not even in the discussion at this point," because of the ongoing process to determine whether the building has a greater city use.

In addition, if the city schools are to downsize and consolidate because of the charter, the building might be needed as a school again, he said.

Grow said creating efficiencies by combining city services had been discussed for years and involved far more than just the schools.

"We still have to close fire stations and we still have competing needs," Grow said. "We are in a place fiscally when every penny moved from here is going to affect a penny there. The idea that we can absorb $2.5 million is inconceivable."

Both sides in the charter debate are bracing for a series of forums on the subject next week culminating in the single state-sponsored public hearing of the charter application process scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11 at Fuller School.

The decision on whether a charter will be granted to the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School will be made by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education this winter.

The City Council is holding a joint meeting with the School Committee at 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall in which charter school founders will be given time talk abut their proposal and school officials the chance to explain their opposition.

Farmer on Wednesday night defended the management of the school and pointed to a 2006 audit of the school district by the state Office of Educational Quality and Accountability that gave Gloucester a rating of "strong" on its Management Quality Index.

Responding to a question about why it costs more to run a school district than an individual school, Farmer said a district had greater obligations than a single school and had to be prepared to take additional students at a moments notice instead of having a capped enrollment.

"We can't say we are closed," he said.

Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.