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Date: 9/26/2023
SPRINGFIELD — The School Committee voted to deny approval for a proposed charter school that would service Springfield residents who dropped out of school.
At its meeting on Sept. 21, Central High School Graduation Coach Thomas Guy presented information about a Horace Mann charter school he would like to start that would target residents who did not complete their diploma program.
Guy is basing the school on a pilot program he has undertaken that has seen success. He noted that 300 such students were contacted and out of that program 60 have earned their degree.
He said the target population is a “vulnerable group, hard to re-engage, and added that working with them “is my strength.”
Guy originally proposed Amaze Academy Charter School as a commonwealth school, one of two kinds of charter school. It would have simply needed approval of the School Committee to move forward. As Mayor Domenic Sarno noted, the application was changed to a Horace Mann charter school, meaning the school district and the city was financially responsible.
Sarno, holding the budget document, said there was not enough information.
Guy maintained that a financial analysis of the plan indicated it would not cost the city any money. The state would pay for the program. Grant money would be used to help start up the school.
What Superintendent Daniel Warwick and others noted is the school department would see a financial impact if currently enrolled students in the city’s 10 other alternative high school program entered the new program instead of those students who left school.
Sarno said the city would also have to find a building for the school.
School Committee members praised Guy’s work as a graduation coach at Central High School, which has seen a decrease in its dropout rate from 7.7% in 2012 to 1.2% 2023.
“I just think at this time I could not recommend a Horace Mann because of the impact, not because of Tom’s work,” Warwick said.
The district has 10 alternative schools of its own to address the same population, Warwick added.
Dr. Yolanda Johnson, executive officer for student services, explained in 2007 two graduation coaches were hired and now the district has 10 coaches. “We have the structure, we have the framework,” she said.
Principal of Alternative Schools Rhonda Jacobs said the proposed charter school “will absolutely affect the alternative schools.”
She noted the schools all service the same demographic of 18-to-25-year-old adults and added she thinks the new school would affect the existing teacher pool.
“We are already doing this work,” she said.