Support BCHMCPS!

We, the undersigned demand that the Barnstable School Committee revokes and reconsiders its vote and supports BCHMCPS to be able to continue to serve its high need and ELL heavy population as a Horace Mann charter public school.

Fifteen years ago the Barnstable Public School District nominated Marstons Mills Elementary School (now West Villages) to be a Horace Mann Charter Public School. Contrary to other, albeit independent, Commonwealth Charter schools, Horace Mann Charter schools operate as a public school district within a district. The state approves and grants the charter that includes the mission, vision and specific operational requirements. Enrollment is through a public application process through which if more applications are received than seats available, an equitable lottery is held. These schools are directly accountable to the state by submitting an annual report and a rigorous review process by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to prove faithfulness to the charter, fiscal viability and academic success. These schools also need to go through a just as rigorous state renewal process every five years with the approval of the teachers' union and local school committee. An independent Board of Trustees ensures the direct oversight of the school and laterally works with the local school committee. In return, the school has autonomy over academic and fiscal decisions to best serve its students' needs. 

The school was moved to its current location during the town's redistricting as the school prepared for its first charter renewal in 2009. The redistricting involved the closure of three school buildings to accommodate for the then-dropping student population in the region. Birth rates in the region at the time were already indicating an influx of students in coming years. The school has attracted families from all villages of Barnstable, even from outside the district until the out-of-district option for BCHMCPS was revoked by the School Committee. The move into the new, smaller building at the Hyannis East location reduced the number of seats available, and increased the ratio of high needs and ELL students.
Despite these odds, the school has managed to keep good standing on a state level academically as well as fiscally, and ranks the highest within the district in math and only 2% points short from highest, ranking second in ELA, while competing with highest ratio in English Language Learner populations among Barnstable elementary schools.
The key to the success of BCHMCPS is the governance of the school, and it is the governance of the school that the School Committee cited as the main reason for not supporting the renewal of the charter. The governance model of BCHMCPS allows all key stakeholders to be part of the decision making process, coupled with individual and organizational responsibility. In other words, the teachers in the classroom with high needs and ELL students are able to directly assess the needs of the students, and they have a say in the decision making and governance so the students can truly reach their highest potential.
On June 6, 2018 after a majority vote supporting the renewal of the charter within the Barnstable Teachers Association, four out of the five Barnstable District School Committee members voted against the renewal of BCHMCPS. It came down to the votes of the five committee members, whom never once visited the school or attended a board meeting (only once did a current School Committee member attend a board meeting, and he did so while running for office).