Lawrence charter school plans revised

Residents plan to restart campaign of opposition

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Despite last year’s vehement opposition to a proposed charter school in the Lawrence School District, which forced the applicants to withdraw the application in November, a similar group wants to open a newly named charter, the Lawrence Charter School. The group behind the effort submitted a letter of intent to the State Education Department ahead of the Feb. 10 deadline. 

Atlantic Beach resident Burton Sacks, one of the leaders of the group that submitted an application for the New American Leadership Academy Charter School last August, is listed as the board chair for the new proposed school. Sacks is the deputy chief operating officer of the City University of New York.

Four members of the original group — Margaret Foley and Evelyn Gargano, both of Atlantic Beach Estates, Ellen Robbins, of Atlantic Beach, and Judith Bergtraum, of Manhattan — are listed as board trustees for the proposed school. Bergtraum is CUNY’s interim vice chancellor of facilities planning, construction and management. Foley is a federal probation officer and an adjunct instructor at St. Francis College. Gargano, a former derivatives trader, is expected to serve as the constituent representative on the school’s board. Robbins is a retired educator and a special education teacher.

The founders say they believe that students in the Lawrence district are underperforming, and their proposed school could do a better job of teaching them. “We work as a team for the betterment of the student,” Sacks has said.

Based on the letter of intent, the school, if approved, would open in September 2016 with 120 students, split evenly between kindergarten and first grade. It would expand for the next four years until it had a fifth grade and a total of 360 students — a plan that is identical to that of the original application. 

“The current application is still in the development process, and will be submitted in March,” said Ronald Woo, an educator currently working at New York University, who is also listed as a trustee. “Until it is fully completed at that time, it would be premature to say anything other than it would be different from the previous one.”

According to the letter of intent, “the proposed school’s organization and curriculum are significantly different and take into account [State Education Department] comments on the earlier application.”

An extended school day, beginning at approximately 7:30 a.m. and at ending around 4 p.m., is still part of the organizational structure, and the curriculum is expected to be more in line with state learning standards.

“It appears that they are putting more of a focus on traditional academics than in their last proposal,” said Atlantic Beach resident Jesse Lunin-Pack, who has two sons in Lawrence schools. “I still have grave concerns about the financial impact that a charter school in Lawrence will have on the kids in the public schools.”

Many district residents and Lawrence school officials bemoaned the fact that based on a state formula, the charter school would be eligible for $21,389 per pupil, which would come from the Lawrence School District budget. It would not charge tuition. The district would lose approximately $7.7 million per year when the charter school reached full capacity, and more than likely would have to cut programs.

“Such a drastic cut at this point would damage the core of our programs,” Superintendent Gary Schall said, “and sports, the arts and extracurriculars would have to be cut,” 

Victoria Simao, who helped create LPSForum.org, the website that fueled the opposition to the New American Leadership Academy Charter School, said that the campaign to fight the charter school would be restarted. “The problem is, they want the money,” she said. “If they only got $7,000 to $8,000 per student, which is what our district probably spends on our elementary students, that would be fair, not the amount they are asking.” Schall said that the cost ranges between those figures.

The applicants have conducted surveys and interviews of community members to collect feedback. “It is inevitable that there will be some opposition,” Woo said. “However, we believe that clearly communicating the mission and vision of the school through multiple venues, along with the factual reasons for establishing the proposed school to the Lawrence Union Free School District community, would make them better informed and reduce the opposition.”  

Have an opinion about the proposed charter school? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.