Public comment before the Board on the proposed charter school

 (if you've been paying attention, you know this is largely Brian Allen's work)

The no-bid management contract is already in conflict with the Department’s own “Charter School Administrative and Governance Guide,” which states:

Boards should follow their normal procurement procedures, use sound business practices, and “shop around” to maximize competition when choosing an EMO.

The proposed charter board will instead be presented with a fait accompli at their very conception.

By year 5, the no-bid contract will send $470,000 annually to Old Sturbridge Village for a school with 61 total employees. Last evening, this was described to you as “well within the range of reason;” the application states “this fee is less than if the school hired personnel for all of these positions.” Both of these statements are false.  Most of these functions are served in much larger school districts at a fraction of the cost.

It was never about the school, in any case. OSV Executive Director Jim Donahue wrote in his introductory letter of the FY22 Annual Report of Old Sturbridge Village:

The academies will provide reliable, contractual revenue to the museum, safeguarding us against fluctuations in uncontrollable factors that impact admission revenue such as weather and public health.

This is an unethical diverting of public school funds to support a private entity, which is a violation of the public purpose limitation of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. 

This conflict was anticipated when, in the same governance document cited above, the Department stated:

After a Board has chosen an EMO, it must continue to maintain its independence from the company. For example, it is very unwise for a representative of an EMO to serve on the Board of Trustees of a charter school.

Far from that independence being reserved, the Executive Director of the charter school is also the Executive Director of the management company. Of the 17 listed founding members, 2 are on the OSV Board of Overseers, 5 work for Old Sturbridge Village, 3 work for Old Sturbridge Village Academy, and one for EL Education, which will also be making thousands of dollars from the proposed charter school.

In every case, this is in direct contradiction of the Department’s own guidance, and a serious ethical conflict.

If as was stated last night, this model is “very common,” you as a Board have much larger issues than the matter before you today.

As a result of the above, the Worcester School Committee has already requested an investigation by the State Auditor, the Office of the Inspector General, and the Ethics Commission.