Earlier this year, eight proposals to open new charter schools or expand existing charters schools were submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
In September 2017, DESE Acting Commissioner Jeff Wulfson announced that two charter school applicants will be invited to submit final applications by November 1, 2017.
The Equity Lab Charter School in Lynn (640 students in grades 5-12) and the Phoenix Charter School servicing Lawrence, Haverhill and Methuen (250 students in grades 5-12) were given the green light to move forward.
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will schedule public hearings in the impacted districts in November and December. Dates and times for the public hearings will be available here. A final vote is expected at the February 2018 BESE meeting.
The four proposals to expand existing charter schools will be reviewed separately at BESE meetings. The tentative schedule for charter school actions has the scheduled dates.