DESE forwards 4 charter applicants to next round

And h/t to Kat McKiernan of the Boston Herald who broke this online.

DESE has invited four applicants to the next round of applicants for charter schools, out of those who applied in August. They are:

• Equity Lab in Lynn (5-12), 640 students
• Hampden School of Science II (applying for an expansion under its current charter) Holyoke/Agawam/Westfield (6-12), 560 students
• MAP Academy Plymouth/Carver/Wareham (ages 15 to 23), 250 students
• Old Sturbridge Village Sturbridge/Brimfield/Brookfield/Holland/Monson/North Brookfield/Palmer/Southbridge/Spencer/East Brookfield/Webster (K-8), 360 students

This means that the Collegiate Charter in Springfield/Chicopee and Entrepreneurial Village in Brockton did not get forwarded. 

Applicants are due in November. The Board will vote in February. 

It's worth noting that under the current law, the Board would have to say 'yes' to two of Equity, Hampden II, and OSV, which have catchment areas in the lowest 10% (yes, that's why OSV's is so large and weird) in order to say 'yes' to MAP. And recall, of course, that the lowest 10% is based on that balance of growth and achievement.