Charter school tuition hitting Nahant hard

NAHANT – The number of Nahant students enrolled in Marblehead Community Charter School has soared and it’s taking a toll on the district budget.Last year, the district had one student enrolled in charter school and this year there are 11 students from Nahant attending the charter school.Nahant Town Administrator Mark Cullinan said the district has been typically paying approximately $10,000 a year to charter schools and that figure has soared to almost $120,000.”The differential between charter school tuition and state reimbursement is $46,000,” Cullinan said.Superintendent Joseph Lisi said he believes the dramatic increase in students attending charter schools was due to dissatisfaction among parents, which also coincided with numerous spots opening up in the Marblehead Community Charter School.The Marblehead Community Charter Public School has room for 230 students and, when it opened its doors this fall, it only had 191 students enrolled. A year ago, the school had a waiting list of 100 students and no openings, but that changed when the former head of the school was criminally charged last year. Thomas Commeret, 55, was charged with shoving a 14-year-old female student against a door last year and threatening her, which was followed by many students leaving the school. Commeret is due back in court on March 24.Lisi said the district has really turned things around and he urged parents to consider returning to the district.”We have new administrators and a renovated school,” he said. “I’d like to invite parents to give us a second look. I’d be happy to meet with parents.”