Plan would create a new charter school

Looking for a way to bring innovation to Wakefield's classrooms, Superintendent Joan Landers is proposing the district create a charter elementary school.

"I'm passionate about allowing for different educational options for students and families. This is one way districts can provide that," she said.

Her plan calls for a Horace Mann charter school for students in kindergarten though fourth grade. The 125- to 150-student school would open in fall 2010.

As of this fall, there will be 56 Commonwealth charter schools and seven Horace Mann charter schools in the state. The two types differ in that Horace Mann schools are more closely tied to their districts.

Their charters must be approved by the local school committee and teachers' union, in addition to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and their employees must belong to local unions.

The seven Horace Mann schools include the Academy of Strategic Learning Charter School in Amesbury, whose formation Landers spearheaded in 2000 while she was director of special education in that district, and the Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter School in Haverhill, which is set to begin its first year this week.

"I am looking at it as a proactive measure to move the district ahead educationally," Landers said of her Wakefield proposal. While this is a time of financial difficulty for the district, "I can't put the education of students in town on hold while we work through those budget issues."

Landers said school districts have to use the Horace Mann model if they want to start their own charter schools. She likes the model because it allows collaboration between the district and the charter school.

"It gives parents options within a public school environment," she said.

The school would have to adhere to the state's curriculum guidelines, but "you can develop standards that you want students within that environment to reach and hold them to high expectations," Landers said.

Through the Montessori teaching approach, students would learn in an "inquiring, cooperative manner using their senses to increase their abstract thinking of ideas," Landers said in an e-mail. Classrooms would "encourage social interaction and peer modeling to enhance educational and emotional development."

The School Committee recently authorized Landers to approach Wakefield's teachers' union to discuss her proposal, though not all committee members back the plan.

Committee chairwoman Cheryl Ford supports the proposal. "I think it's looking outside the box, it's creative, and it provides a new way to educate kids in Wakefield," she said.

But committee member Lisa Butler, though not opposed to creating a Horace Mann charter school, said she believes the timing is not right because of the many other matters on the district's plate, from financial problems to developing a long-term plan for its buildings and possible redistricting.

"I just feel we need to take some time and work on what we have" and then evaluate how a charter school might fit into the district's long-term plans, she said.

Butler said she also has some specific concerns about the plan, including how it would affect the school budget.

"During this process, we would have to be cognizant of the financial impact opening a Horace Mann school would have on the entire district," Landers said. "This might be one way to move the district financially and educationally in the right direction."

Because it follows the Horace Mann model, the school would be funded by the district's budget and through grants. Landers said the school also would be eligible for start-up funds the state provides charter schools.

A board of directors would oversee the school, but the School Committee would have authority to approve its budget. The school superintendent would retain power to hire and fire.

The school would be open to Wakefield students only, unless the town reverses its policy of not accepting out-of-town students through the state's school-choice program. In the event there are more applicants than available spaces, students would be selected by lottery.

Landers said if the plan gains teachers' union support, she will work with the School Committee for approval to proceed.

The next step would be preparation of a preliminary application to be filed with the state by next August. The state would then decide whether to invite a final proposal, which would be due next November.