Saugus charter school nears state approval

SAUGUS – A proposed charter school in Saugus may be approved later this month.Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester announced Tuesday he is recommending the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approve five new charter schools in Massachusetts, including one in Saugus.A press release states the board will meet on Feb. 25 to vote and will consider Chester?s recommendations, which also includes expanding 11 existing charter schools.While Chester said he supports the continued “establishment and growth of quality charter schools,” one Saugus School Committee member called opening the Pioneer Charter School of Science II in Saugus “a mistake.”?I know they?re putting out a full-court press on their end with all the propaganda ?” said Arthur Grabowski. “The Department of Education doesn?t always make the best choices. Look at the charter school up in Gloucester. I don?t think it lasted more than two years.”Grabowski also accused PCSS, which has a flagship school in Everett, of being run by followers of the Gülen Movement, a group that follows the teaching of Turkish exile and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.?They can deny it all they want but is it a coincidence that everyone there is from Turkey and Gülen is from Turkey?” asked Grabowski. “They maybe on the exterior not have ties, but who are the investors? We don?t know who the investors are. I think it?s very sad that hard-earned taxpayer money is going to go to a school that has to pay off investors ? There?s no way tuition can pay for facilities and everything else.”School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed and Vice Chairman Corinne Riley declined to comment.Barish Icin, executive director of PCSS, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but in previous interviews has denied any involvement with the group.Spokesman Dominic Slowey also refuted any involvement with the group.?That?s something that?s been out there in the blogosphere for a while,” he said. “PCSS has been misidentified on many sites as being a Gülen charter school. That gets picked up and gets spread. We don?t have any connection to the Gülen Movement. It?s an independent charter school ?”Slowey said the school does have ties to the Turkish-American community in Greater Boston and offers Turkish as an elective, but noted these aspects “get blown out of proportion” by those who insist PCSS is a Gülen school.?The rumors get fanned because there?s a lot of Islamophobia in America, and hopefully that doesn?t include Everett, Chelsea, Revere or Saugus,” said Slowey. “I went to the hearing in Saugus and heard people talk about it, but they don?t provide any evidence other than say it?s a worldwide movement of a Turkish imam.”Slowey said applying for a charter in Massachusetts is a “difficult and long process,” and if PCSS was connected to the movement, “it would have come out long before now.”According to the PCSS application, the list of proposed board members for the Saugus location includes several doctorate holders who were the founders of the Everett location, including Dr. Asil Oztekin, Dr. Mehmet Dogan, Dr. Nuh Gedik, Dr. Mustafa Ozdemir and Dr. Murat Yaldizli.The application calls for a starting enrollment of 180 students and expanding up to 360 within five years, and an anticipated opening for the next school year.While the school was looking at the old Weylu?s Chinese restaurant on Route 1 as a possible location, Slowey said that?s now “off the table.”But even though Chester recommended PCSS, Slowey said it?s “not a lock.”?The board generally does rely on the due diligence of the staff and the commissioner ?” he said. “There have been a couple of times when the board has gone against the commissioner?s recommendation. It?s not a lock, but it?s also pretty rare the board would overturn the commissioner.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].