Gloucester Charter School Approval Faulted by IG

Charter school approval faulted
Gloucester vote in error, inspector general rules
By James Vaznis
Globe Staff / January 3, 2010

Inspector General Gregory Sullivan has determined that the state improperly approved a controversial charter school in Gloucester last year and believes the board should void its vote, according to a letter his office sent to the governor yesterday afternoon.

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has not nullified approval of any charter school since the independently run public schools were created under the 1993 Education Reform Act.

The Gloucester Community Arts Charter School is scheduled to open in the fall.

It was not clear yesterday whether the board and its agency’s commissioner will comply with Sullivan’s findings because they have not seen a copy of the letter yet, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“We don’t have any comment,’’ said spokeswoman Heidi Guarino. “We need to review it with our legal counsel.’’

However, Colin Zick, an attorney who represents Gloucester Community Arts, said he disputed the inspector general’s interpretation of the rules and regulations and believes the commissioner does have the authority to overrule his own in-house specialists. “This does not automatically revoke the charter,’’ said Zick, who had not yet seen the letter.

The inspector general’s office plans to release a report on its findings to the two legislators who requested it, Senator Bruce Tarr and Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante.

In his letter, Sullivan said that Mitchell Chester, the commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, recommended approval of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School last February in violation of the agency’s own rules and regulations, which he says forbids a commissioner from giving a favorable recommendation against the advice of its own experts.

The department’s charter school office determined a few weeks before the board’s vote that the school’s application did not meet the approval criteria.

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