Critics say the proposed Worcester Cultural Academy would be used to subsidize Old Sturbridge Village

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All but two of the people who backed a proposal to create a new charter school at a public hearing on Friday were directly connected to Old Sturbridge Academy, the driving force behind said proposal, or charter schools in general.

In the process of obtaining state approval, Worcester Cultural Academy’s charter school proposal must hold a public hearing. That hearing was held Friday in the Herbert Auditorium of the Quinsigamond Community Colleges Surprising Building.

Speakers stood before a panel of representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to share their thoughts on the proposed K-8 school.

Read more: Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty asks council to disapprove charter school

Of the 13 people who spoke in favor of the charter school, 11 were board members, trustees, teachers or staff of Old Sturbridge Academy or Old Sturbridge Village.

Jes Caron was one of two parents of Worcester public school students who said they were looking forward to charter school as a choice.

It gives us another opportunity within the city, Caron said. While I understand budgetary (sic) there are concerns and it’s something to look into…to say that this budget is going to take away from the school system, I think that’s a false equivalence and it raises a worry, that even if it’s true, maybe not the whole picture.

The funds the proposed school would take from Worcester public schools has been a major point of contention for groups who have opposed it. The Worcester School Committee and Worcester City Council went public with their disapproval of the plan.

Committee and council representatives, including Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, were among 28 people who spoke out against the school plan on Friday.

Petty again raised the issue of funding, reminding those gathered that city officials fought for more than $100 million in funding, Worcester public schools were underfunded and would only receive the amount total only in the next four to five years.

Read more: Group behind Worcester Cultural Academy charter school proposal to go ahead despite opposition

Before you even get halfway through this implementation, you’re considering a proposal that will cut $7 million from our district budget is a kick in the teeth, Petty said.

On her 120th day as Superintendent of Worcester Public Schools, Rachel Monrrez spoke out against the charter school.

The Worcester Cultural Academy is offering to replicate what we already offer in a different building and at huge cost to the community, Monrrez said. It is not a new idea, a new method or a new device.

The Worcester Cultural Academy submitted a proposal to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to create a free public charter school in Worcester that would open in August 2023 for students in kindergarten through 4th grade, then expand to include students up to grade 8.

Its design is based on the Old Sturbridge Academy Charter Public School, which has a school-museum partnership, according to its website.

In Worcester, the school would partner with the EcoTarium, the Hanover Theater and Conservatory, the Old Sturbridge Village and the Worcester Art Museum.

The school will provide students with the opportunity to connect what they learn in the classroom with real-world applications through high-quality learning experiences, according to school materials.

Many opponents of the school said Worcester public schools already had existing partnerships with arts and science organizations in the city.

ArtsWorcester Board Chairman Ryan Hacker was there to back up that claim. Arts Worcester is a local non-profit organization that supports the visual arts in Worcester and central Massachusetts.

Our partnership with Worcester Public Schools provides their students with free access to exceptional quality arts and crafts content outside of the classroom, year-round, Hacker said.

Outside of his organization, Hacker said grassroots organizations like Main Idea and Neighborhood Strings and larger organizations like the Worcester Art Museum and Worcester Historical Museum all provide easily accessible programming for public school students.

Stacey Luster, founding member of the Worcester Cultural Academy, said the group behind the proposed school are delighted not only to have an annual on-site visit to cultural institutions, but also to have partnerships with the institutions within the framework of the basic programme.

Luster said she had worked in the district for 16 years and said the district had taken a turn for the worse and low results had been normalized.

Worcester undoubtedly has pockets of excellence, but they are unavailable to most Worcester students because they live in postcodes with consistently underperforming schools, she said.

Tim Nicollette, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, also spoke in support of the school, saying the school will be designed to provide a combination of appropriate challenges and supports that will allow for academic, social, and emotional strength in all students, including students with special needs and multilingual learners.

Critics of the proposal in recent weeks and at the hearing suggested that the school would not be able to live up to its claims of helping English language learners, since only 3, 8% of students at Old Sturbridge Academy fit this description.

Suzanna Resendes, principal of Worcesters’ first fully bilingual school, La Familia, said 37 per cent of her 172 pupils are English learners and 74 per cent have a first language that is not English.

It is a true example of a cultural school, she said in reference to La Familia.

School committee member Jermoh Kamara questioned whether the schools’ proposal is digitally fair, as it says students will have dual access to technology. In Worcester Public Schools, students have individual access to technology from pre-K.

This app does not meet Worcester Communities’ basic expectations for our students, Kamara said.

Deputy Superintendent Brian Allen questioned the true motive of the proposed school, citing the fact that in its fifth year the school would send $470,000 a year to Old Sturbridge Village.

In the Village of Old Sturbridge’s 2022 annual report, Allen said he was referring to both the existing Sturbridge Academy and the proposed Worcester Cultural Academy.

The academies will provide reliable contract revenue to the museum, protecting us against fluctuations in uncontrollable factors that impact admissions revenue such as weather and public health, Allen read in the report.

Allen equated opening the charter school with burning public school money to provide reliable revenue for Old Sturbridge Village.

A failed Worcester charter school was also a hot topic on Friday.

How dare you come to Worcester, the district which in October 2013 welcomed over 150 students from the failed Spirit of Knowledge school which failed for exactly the reasons we told you with an eerily similar budget proposal, school committee member Tracy OConnell- dit Novick.

Despite the criticism, Jim Donahue, founding executive director of the Worcester Cultural Academy, said he thought the audition was really good after it ended and attendees headed to their cars.

I think I was impressed to listen to so many people who are passionate about what they do, passionate about the community, Donahue said. I thought that was an important part of the process.

He pointed out that the legislation allows community groups to apply for and obtain a charter to operate a public school.

I just believe that one size does not fit all students. And every school building in the city of Worcester can’t be everything for every child, Donahue said. What I think public school choice does is it gives families options to find a school that can meet the needs of their children.

He said Old Sturbridge Academy had a proven track record, securing an unconditional license renewal last year. He said he appreciated the concerns raised about finances, but he thinks it’s something they’ve proven they can handle.

The proposed school has seen a recent surge in applications and new cultural institutions have reached out to form partnerships, according to Donahue.

Those who were unable to speak on Friday can submit written comments to DESE by email to [email protected].

The deadline for submission is January 4, 2023. Then, these written comments will be provided to the board before a February 28 meeting where a final decision will be made.

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