Possible Saugus charter school site uncertain

SAUGUS – Barish Icin, the executive director of the Pioneer Charter School in Everett, said he is still looking at possible locations in Saugus for a new school.?We have not picked a location yet,” said Icin. “We have not finalized anything. Since we have a lot of interest in Saugus, but also from Lynn, too, we wanted to apply to this region.”The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently announced that there will be a public hearing at the Saugus Library on Monday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. for public input on the proposed charter school. According to the department, there are 11 applicants this year, two of which would serve Saugus.The Pioneer Charter School of Science is looking to open one school in Saugus to serve Saugus, Peabody, Lynn, Danvers and Salem, and another in Woburn to serve Woburn, Stoneham, Medford, Melrose, Wakefield and Saugus. The Saugus school would open in 2013 while the Woburn school would open in 2014 if approved.JC Considine, spokesman for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said next week?s public hearing is a part of the application process.?The board votes on new charters at its February meeting,” said Considine. “The commissioner gets all the feedback from this review process in late January or early February and he?ll make his recommendation public which of the 11 applications he may recommend to the board.”The final decision comes at a meeting on Feb. 26, he said.Icin said he has seen a lot of demand from Saugus for a charter school and is hoping to open on a smaller scale at first and then build up.Icin said the Pioneer School differs from a regular public school in that the program is “heavily focused on student achievement,” runs on a 200-day calendar and will only have up to 360 students in the school.?We use a lot of data to make sure our students are not falling behind,” said Icin. “We also are a very small school: only 360 students, so it?s very much like family.”The Pioneer Charter School first opened in Everett in 2007 and has a curriculum based heavily on math and science.Everett Schools Superintendent Frederick Foresteire said when the Pioneer School opened, it was a smooth transition with no problems, noting the school helped alleviate some of the overcrowding in his own district.?They?ve been cooperative,” said Foresteire. “It?s been a friendly relationship. We?re different from most communities because our school population is exploding. We?re probably number one or two in the state in population growth over the last two years. If that charter school didn?t take away a couple of hundred kids, we?d be in more of a problem.”However, Foresteire did note towns need to “be careful” that charter schools don?t “drain the cream of the crop” when it comes to students.?You don?t mind a charter school opening up if it reflects the demographics of the community,” said Foresteire. “Like a certain percentage of students in Saugus are special needs or English as a Second Language ? things like that ? that?s what you?d want to see.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].