Saugus charter school approved

MALDEN – A new charter school in Saugus got the go-ahead from the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Tuesday morning, despite concerns from some board members over plagiarism and “weaknesses” in the school?s application.James DiTullio, counsel to the Executive Office of Education, said the application for the Pioneer Charter School of Science II presented “a little bit of a contrast from what we?ve seen.”?There are some notable weaknesses there,” he said. “It doesn?t describe much about board recruitment. They really only have one parent on the proposed board, which strikes me as limited. These raise some questions. You look at the school and it?s below where it should be when meeting the needs of special needs students.”The board voted 6-4 to approve the new charter.DiTullio, along with board member Harneen Chernow, also took issue with the school hiring teachers from overseas.?To say they can?t find good math or science teachers in the area strikes me as a little insulting,” said DiTullio, who voted in favor of the school. “Somewhere in the application or interview, the applicants cast some aspersions on the Saugus Public School System. I?m a graduate of Saugus High School, and I did go from there straight to Yale University and that is from the preparation of teachers at Saugus High School.”But one issue that the board spoke at length about was the application for PCSS being nearly identical to Harmony Public Schools, a charter school system in Texas.?There seems to be some suggestion of plagiarism frankly and dishonesty about answering the questions of where the documents come from,” said board member Ruth Kaplan. “Most of us have been given a document that shows language in their application that is identical with language from another school in another part of the country ?”Chernow said she was “uncomfortable” about answers given by school representatives during the interview process.Read the application?It?s their mission, vision, character education, every piece of (the application) is the same thing,” said Chernow. “Every part of the school is word for word verbatim. It?s hard for me to believe there?s no connection between the Harmony School and this school. How can there be no connection? It?s verbatim. It raises credibility questions.”Board Chairman Maura Banta, Vice Chairman Beverly Holmes, and members Penny Noyce, Ryan Casey and Gerald Chertavian voted in favor of the school.Chernow, Kaplan, David Roach and Vanessa Calderón-Rosado voted against.Commissioner Mitchell Chester said he visited the PCSS flagship school in Everett and was “very impressed with what he saw there.”?They earned their stripes and demonstrated their viability,” said Chester.Chester also touched on the controversy about the school being affiliated with the Gülen Movement, a group that follows the teaching of Turkish exile and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.?I don?t see anything there that rises to the point where I would change my recommendation,” he said.Deputy Commissioner Jeff Wulfson noted that “nothing inappropriate” is taking place at PCSS and said he has spent “a great deal of time trying to separate suspicion and innuendo from fact.”?There?s clearly an informal relationship,” he said of the Turkish-run charter schools. “There?s clearly a shared philosophy and vision, and sharing of materials and documents. I truly believe that the leaders of these schools know one another, consult with one another, not unlike other charter schools.”Wulfson said he couldn?t say whether PCSS leaders are followers of Gülen.?It?s clear to me they travel in the same circles as others who are associated with this cleric,” he said. “There is nothing that has led us to believe that any connection is formal or detrimental or anything that should alarm us. It?s a replication of a high-performing school and we don?t feel we have any facts to change our recommendation.”Barish Icin, executive director of PCSS, said he?s excited with the vot