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Date: 2/15/2019
WEST SPRINGFIELD – The recent opening of a charter school in West Side has not affected the city’s quality of public education, according to Mayor William Reichelt.
Although the Hampden Charter School of Science–West (HCSSW) – an offshoot of the Hampden Charter School of Science–East – opened its doors this past fall, West Springfield Public Schools has been working toward improving key aspects of its educational system. The district’s 2018–2021 District Improvement Plan hones in on topics like English learners, special education, social-emotional learning, modes of communication with families and alternative pathways to graduation.
WSPS is also the only district in the region to demonstrate a consistent enrollment growth on an annual basis in the last seven years, said the mayor.
“I’m thrilled with our district and the work the administration has done,” Reichelt expressed. “We have a varied population here. We have kids from over 65 different countries with 35 different languages. Our facilities are in incredible shape and we’re the only district west of Worcester to see an increase in student population – people want their kids to be in West Springfield Public Schools.”
In February 2017, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education awarded a charter to the Hampden Charter School of Science–West to serve the families of West Springfield, Westfield, Agawam and Holyoke – despite public outcry from residents and elected officials.
HCSSW, located at 511 Main St. in West?Springfield, opened in August 2018 with 252 students from grades 6–9. The school’s mission, as stated on its website, is to provide a “technologically rich environment” with a curriculum that focuses on mathematics and science education.
While the charter school is free–of–charge to its students, local leaders feared the financial impact it could have on the school district.
Charter schools are funded through tuition payments made by the sending districts.
Reichelt previously told Reminder Publishing the district was expected to lose 29 students at the time, costing around $15,000 per student. However, the district has only lost a total of 16 students, so far, costing $13,770 per student. The total shortfall for the town this year was $41,206.
“I don’t think this [HCSSW] is going to hurt the community in the long run. I think folks are going to see our schools are better,” said the mayor. “There’s a more varied education in public schools. Folks are going to see we make more investments in our schools and we are more open and more transparent.”
Reichelt added that he is frustrated with how the town’s relationship has transpired with the new charter school.
He said the district and the town have had no open lines of communication with the charter school since its opening.
“This isn’t a partnership with the charter school, they’re preying on our students,” said Reichelt. “They’re a business in our community. If they need something that we can work with, we’re happy to help because we care about the safety of those kids in our community – but they’re essentially a competing business to our own public schools. We’re happy to help in ways that don’t also negatively affect our taxpayers and our students.”
As outlined its District?Improvement Plan, WSPS is gearing up to expand its support services for its students.
Some of the things the district plans on incorporating range from alternative pathways to graduation, assessments of the current programs that serve the district’s special education students and more effective communication with district parents.
“The programming that we are putting into place and the programming that we continually work to enhance is student–centered,” said WSPS Superintendent Michael Richard. “The focus of much of these efforts is around the social–emotional needs of students, so we are working hard to ensure that students are coming to school ready to learn in a psychological, physical and emotional capacity.”
Reminder Publishing made multiples attempts to reach out to the Hampden Charter School of Science–West, but no response was given before press time.