'Adults have failed the children'; State plans to monitor Spirit of Knowledge Charter School daily.

AuthorReis, Jacqueline
PositionLocal

Byline: Jacqueline Reis

MALDEN -- The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education plans to monitor the troubled Spirit of Knowledge Charter School daily but took no action at the board's meeting Tuesday.

Mitchell D. Chester, commissioner of elementary and secondary education, detailed uneven test scores and achievement that seems headed in the wrong direction. A consultant for the school said he believes "the adults have failed the children,'' and the Worcester public school system is preparing to welcome the charter school's children back if necessary.

Barrington Henry, chairman of the school's board of trustees, said trustees will hold an emergency meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. He said he has authorized the school's executive director to draw up a transition plan for students because he wants to be prepared for any possible outcome.

Spirit of Knowledge, which opened in 2010, has been on probation since May. It has about 160 students in Grades 7-12 and drew the state's attention this fall when it enrolled far fewer students than expected and when its Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scores were dramatically low in some categories.

The low enrollment is a problem, because it means there will be less state funding than budgeted for. That leads to budget cuts, which in turn makes it harder to improve the academics there, said Deputy Commissioner Jeff Wulfson.

In the spring, school officials expected to have 214 students this fall, Associate Commissioner Cliff Chuang said. By the summer, they were expecting 185. The school opened this fall with 170, and that number has fallen to about 160, he said.

In a memo to the board, Commissioner Chester wrote, "The financial audits for the past two years have noted significant deficiencies in internal controls. In the current fiscal year, the reduction in expected revenues and the lack of any significant cash reserves has left the school with little or no margin for unexpected circumstances.''

The memo also mentions the school's MCAS scores and measures derived from them. While the scores themselves were uneven -- some as good as or better than those of Worcester public schools, some worse -- the calculations the state derives from those scores show a bleak picture.

Each district has a Progress and Performance Index score calculated mainly from MCAS scores and students' progress on those scores. The state considers a PPI of 75 out of 100 to be on target. Spirit of Knowledge's annual...

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