SALEM, MA — Salem Superintendent of Schools Steve Zrike slammed Salem Academy Charter School’s attempts to add 70 more seats to its enrollment in an open letter to the School Committee before reiterating many of his frustrations during Monday night’s Committee meeting and during his Facebook Live session with families on Wednesday.
Zrike accused the charter school of being deceptive in its plans by not informing the greater district about the intention to seek more seats and violating the open meeting law in the way it listed the enrollment discussion on its Board of Trustees meeting agenda before taking a formal vote and applying for the additional seats to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The School Committee filed an open meeting complaint against the Salem Academy Board of Trustees for what they believe to be that violation on Sept. 24.
The primary issue with the expansion appears budgetary with Zrike telling the School Committee that the way the state charges and partially reimburses public school districts for tuition means that any student who leaves Salem Public Schools for any charter school — including Salem Academy — deprives the district of state aid.
He said the additional 70 seats, if filled with Salem students, would cost about $1.26 million ($18,000 per child) at a time when the district is already facing a structural deficit after ratifying the new teacher contract calling for 19 percent raises over three years, which Zrike said in the open letter would be “devastating” for Salem Public Schools.
“We have a long-standing partnership and relationship with the academy,” Zrike said on Wednesday. “They are another school that serves children well. We certainly know that many students and families choose to go to the academy as it is a strong option in the city of Salem. We believe that it provides a strong choice for families.
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“Unfortunately, we were disappointed to learn that they had requested additional seats for expansion without engaging the Salem Public Schools in a meaningful way.”
In the open letter to the School Committee dated Sept. 29 — which was not posted on the district’s official social media site until Wednesday — Zrike also said the charter school’s achievement marks — including Advanced Placement and MCAS test scores, staff retention rates and disciplinary percentages — rank unfavorably to Salem Public Schools.
“There is no need to shift the balance of seats within the city of Salem,” Zrike said in the letter.
He said that even though there is regular dialogue between the Salem Academy officials and those across the district, the attempt to expand was never brought up in advance of the vote and “there was no opportunity for the district to discuss the impact on the children and families of Salem.”
He said that the agenda item at the last Board of Trustees meeting called “Enrollment (VOTE)” was not sufficient notice that a discussion and vote on a charter expansion would take place and that backup materials indicating the true nature of the agenda item were not provided.
Zrike said on Wednesday that the application for expansion was now under the purview of the state Department of Education.
“It’ll be an opportunity for public comment, which we will do here in Salem, because we do think we offer a very strong experience for young people and that the shift in seats potentially to Salem Academy would have a significant impact on resources and our ability to provide our students and our staff with the resources they need to be successful,” he said.
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
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