Marblehead Charter School opens with low enrollment

MARBLEHEAD – The Marblehead Community Charter Public School opened Thursday with 191 students, 40 less than the 230-student school has room for.Nina Cullen-Hamzeh, the Grade 4-8 school?s interim academic director, said the majority of the students are from Marblehead, but there are also students from Lynn, Salem, Swampscott, Peabody, Saugus and Gloucester.Cullen-Hamzeh, who has been with the MCCPS since it opened 12 years ago, said she was approached by one parent who told her, “I?m sorry for your problems but I?m so glad my kids finally got in.”A year ago, the school had a waiting list of 100 students and no openings. That was before a split developed over former Head of School Thomas Commeret, who has been suspended with pay for the remaining two years of his contract. Commeret is awaiting trial Monday, Oct. 1, in Lynn District Court, on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for allegedly pushing a female student into a door during an April 11 incident in his office.Since the school receives $10,000 in state school aid for each child, it started the year with a $400,000 drop in revenue. “We?re lucky we have a budget surplus,” Cullen-Hamzeh said.