“Naysayer” Joins Charter Board

The president of New Haven’s Board of Education is charter network Achievement First’s (AF) newest board member—just a month after he argued against the two organizations partnering on a new charter school.

The school board president, Carlos Torre (pictured), is taking Mayor Toni Harp’s position on the AF board, filling a requirement for the network to include either the chair of the local Board of Education or the chair’s designee on its governing council.

When asked whether his history with the network will affect his new role, he said: ​“We’ll have to see. We’re all professionals. Hopefully we will deal with the issue. I don’t see that that should be a hindrance. It could be useful for everyone concerned.”

The change in position is one of a few new developments AF leaders announced at an AF board meeting at 403 James St. Wednesday night. (Though now officially a board member, Torre did not make it to Wednesday’s meeting.)

Also announced Wednesday were a few major real estate decisions: AF will reduce the square footage of an existing lease on Blake Street, while taking the first steps toward purchasing two adjacent parcels of land at 10 Cherry Ann St. in Hamden and 820 – 830 Dixwell Ave. in New Haven.

School principals also shared plans for ensuring their students’ test scores catch up with those of their school counterparts in New York.

“Imagine” Tabled

Torre is replacing Mayor Harp because of a state statute requiring a Board of Ed rep on charter boards. Former Mayor John DeStefano sat on AF’s board during his years as mayor. Torre said technically the board president is supposed to sit on the charter board, not the mayor, a fact that officials ​“simply found out” recently. The statute gives the city discretionary power. Mayor Harp asked Torre to fill the position, and he approached AF about taking it.

Torre’s last public interaction with AF was more contentious. Last month, he and board member Alicia Caraballo vocally criticized a proposal that the district and AF become financial partners on a new experimental charter school called Elm City Imagine — a ​“school of the future.”

AF had planned to open Imagine in the fall as a K‑1 school and eventually expand to fourth grade. Saying it could not otherwise raise enough money privately to launch the school, AF negotiated a partnership with Superintendent Garth Harries in which the district would provide $700 in cash and in-kind services per student for a school that AF would run and staff. The school would run with the ​“Greenfield” educational model, which included an extended school year with a calendar alternating eight weeks of regular classes with two weeks of career ​“expeditions”; longer school days with staggered teacher schedules; and small-group instruction that stresses technology use. (Click here to read about the way that unfolded this winter.)

Teachers’ union President Dave Cicarella and district teachers rallied against the proposal, lining up for hours at public meetings. Torre and Caraballo provided the final blows to the proposed partnership for the fall, declaring themselves skeptical about the terms of the relationship and unprepared to vote on the topic in the near future.

For now, Elm City Imagine is tabled. AF had hired a principal and dean for the school, who will stay on as employees of the charter network, said AF spokesperson Lenny Speiller. AF had also signed a three-year lease for part of a building at 495 Blake St., which it had planned to use next year for Imagine’s kindergarten and first-grade as well as Elm City College Prep Middle School’s fifth-grade, all three under the Greenfield model.

AF will still lease the building, but at 18,789 square feet instead of 32,901. In the second and third years of the contract, they will lease 33,150 square feet instead of 43,577. Just the fifth grade will occupy the space the first year, Speiller said. AF will consider subleasing part of their leased space after the first year, he said.

AF officials hope they can resume the conversation with the district about the partnership sometime in the near future, Speiller said. AF’s vice president of development Ken Paul said he hopes a ​“byproduct” of Torre’s new role will be that he ​“would learn about what we do” and perhaps change his position on the proposal.

“We are excited that Dr. Carlos Torre has joined our Elm City College Prep and Amistad Academy boards, and we look forward to his added insights as we continue the work of supporting and strengthening our high-performing New Haven schools,” said Dick Ferguson, Elm City College Prep Board Chair. ​“Dr. Torre’s participation on both boards will foster even greater collaboration and partnership between AF and NHPS.”

Torre said that having a potential ​“naysayer” on the board could be helpful for AF. ​“A lot of times you see things maybe other people don’t see or you need to slow things down or whatever. Hopefully as a result of this, both the New Haven board and the AF board will be strengthened. So we’ll have to see,” he said.

More Square Feet

AF board members voted to reduce their square footage at Blake Street and to consider buying up new property in Dixwell and Hamden. They unanimously approved a resolution acknowledging AF’s desire to buy adjacent parcels at 10 Cherry Ann St. in Hamden and 820 – 830 Dixwell Ave. for a maximum total price of $350,000. The parcels are also adjacent to Elm City College Preparatory Middle School at 794 Dixwell Ave.

The Cherry Anne Street property is not necessarily for sale, but the Dixwell property definitely is, said Ferguson (pictured above). ​“Considerable environmental issues likely exist” at both properties, which they would raze after buying, according to the board.

“We would turn [820 – 830 Dixwell] into parking right away,” Ferguson said. ​“Then we could turn the current parking lot [at Elm City Middle] into a basketball court.” The board might consider building an addition to the middle school ​“in the distant future,” he said.

Kaitlyn Stasik, the board’s teacher representative, expressed concern that the school would eventually have two buildings across the street from each other, forcing kids to regularly cross the street. ​“There’s no plan that would have kids crossing the streets,” Ferguson responded.

The appraised value of the Cherry Anne Street property is $25,000 and the asking price is $50,000. The appraised value of the Dixwell property is $340,000 and the asking price is $299,000, for a total of $349,000.

Ferguson said he did not know where the funds would come from, likely from loans or philanthropy.

Testing Season

Connecticut is one of 45 states that have agreed to adopt the Common Core, national academic standards that set benchmarks in English and math for students from K to 12 — aligned to the standardized Smarter Balanced Field Test. The Achievement First (AF) charter network and New Haven Public School district decided to switch to Common Core two years before the state requirement of 2015.

Achievement First principals shared that, though test preparation has gone smoothly, recent interim assessment results are still significantly behind those of their schools in New York, which began the new Common Core curriculum in 2012. The network’s Connecticut schools began integrating Common Core a year later.

“We’re not just behind but significantly behind [New York]. We need to catch up,” said Rebecca Good, principal of Elm City College Preparatory Middle School.

Teachers from Connecticut schools have visited New York schools to learn from their techniques, said Amistad Middle School Principal Katie Poynter. She wants to implement certain ideas such as ​“the idea of really intentional re-dos.” Teachers would have students who are not understanding an assignment the chance to do it again with ​“specific feedback,” ensuring they ​“are not moving on from something we see they haven’t mastered,” she said.

But earlier grades are catching up to or surpassing New York school scores, said Andrew Poole, principal of Elm City College Prep Elementary School. ​“I’m happy to report we are closing the gap,” he said. This month, he is working on finishing this year strong, while also looking ahead to next year.