Salem School Officials Slam Charter School Expansion Bid

SALEM, MA — Top Salem school officials took their campaign against Salem Academy's expansion plans to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday morning, charging that increasing the charter school's enrollment by 70 seats would rob needed funds from the public schools and were unwarranted given the relative performance trends of students at Salem Academy compared to those in Salem Public Schools.

• Superintendent Slams Salem Academy's Expansion Plans

Salem Mayor and School Committee Chair Dominick Pangallo, Superintendent Steve Zrike and Salem Teachers Union President Anne Berman spoke during the public comment portion of Tuesday's meeting against the expansion bid with Zrike saying that allowing it would drain $1.4 million in tuition payments from the SPS budget, and Pangallo charging that the expansion was planned without transparency and consultation with the city about its effects on the greater school district and its students.

Zrike said the approval and subsequent financial hit would "cause great harm to the students and families who rely on Salem Public Schools to provide quality education to a large number of students regardless of background, time of enrollment, immigration status, academy and language needs and a family's ability to navigate a complex lottery process."

"Even more concerning," Zrike continued, "it would come at a time when Salem Public Schools are achieving remarkable success, outpacing Salem Academy in many respects. Salem Academy, we don't think, has deserved the opportunity to expand, does not meet the proven provider criteria, fails to serve a diverse student population and its outcomes are trending downward.

"On the other hand, our school system is one of the Commonwealth's strongest Gateway City school districts, making unprecedented improvements to serve its students. For those reasons, we strongly urge you to reject the Academy's application for enrollment."

Pangallo said that while he does not oppose Salem Academy's mission, it must exist in collaboration with that of the city and Salem Public Schools, the spirit of which he said was violated during that school board's privately long-planned expansion push to meet its wait-list demand when it should have been working with the city on how to best complement the district's effort to serve the greater student population of Salem.

"For a matter of this consequence, public engagement is essential," Pangallo said. "But for this application, public engagement did not happen. The SACS board met for months to discuss among themselves the plan for an enrollment expansion but there was no communication at any point about it with me, with Salem Public Schools, or with anyone else in our community. ...

"The SACS board is a public body and the school is funded by public tax dollars. Major decisions like a charter amendment should be carried out transparently, with public input and with legitimate community engagement."

Patch reached out to the Salem Academy Board of Trustees for a response to the public comment in front of the state board with the Board providing a statement that, in part, said:

"Salem Academy's Board of Trustees and staff continually evaluate how we can best meet our mission. By increasing our capacity, we can better fulfill our commitment to support the unique needs of a wide array of Salem students. Increasing our enrollment will also enable us to accommodate the clear community demand for seats at our school and ensure more students have the opportunity to benefit from our exceptional educational offerings.

"Gradually increasing our enrollment from 480 students to 550 would only further help our community's children succeed, and with that, our community thrive."

The Board also cited the school's diverse school population both demographically and economically, as well as that it said 100 percent of this year's graduating class was accepted into a college program.

The Salem School Committee filed an open meeting complaint against the Salem Academy Board of Trustees for what they believed to be a violation of sufficient notice of its planned expansion vote on Sept. 24, forcing another meeting and a second vote to approve the expansion application.

Zrike told the School Committee in an open letter in October that the tuition reduction for SPS — about $18,000 per student — coming at a time when the district is already facing a structural deficit after ratifying a new teacher contract that includes 19 percent in raises over three years, would be "devastating" for Salem Public Schools.

(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.)