Charter Schools FY25: Expansion Requests and Renewals

It’s charter season for all those who celebrate! The 2025 fiscal year brings us 19 charter schools seeking a renewal of their charter, 7 schools seeking expansions, 1 school surrendering its charter and 0 applications for new charter schools or commonwealth virtual schools.

All applications to expand, renew and open new charter schools in Massachusetts have been submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. A period of public comment, discussion and public votes at the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education between now and February 2025.

Public comment and participation is not only good practice; it is required by MA G.L. Chapter 71, Section 89. We will update this page with documents, events and key votes as the details become available.

There isn’t much information on the DESE website so we will try to help them out by posting the updates here as we get them.

Amendments to Existing Charter Schools

Charter schools may request a change to enrollment, grade span or region each year. Amendment requests were due to DESE on September 25, 2024. The fate of such amendments now rest in the hands of Acting Commissioner Russell D. Johnston. If Commissioner Johnston recommends any of the requests to move forward, they will be brought to BESE for discussion and vote at the January or February BESE meeting.

UPDATE: The Commissioner has spoken. The recommendations, discussion and vote will take place at the February 25, 2025 BESE meeting. Take a look at the full document here.

	Current District or Region	Grade Span	Maximum Enrollment	Proposed Amendment to Charter	Public Comment
Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School	Clinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Maynard	6–12	966	Increase enrollment by 34 seats UPDATED Recommendation: Increase enrollment by 34 students BESE: Rejected expansion 5-5	Due Dec 13, 2024
Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers (Horace Mann Charter)	Boston	9–12	488	Increase enrollment by 352 seats UPDATED Recommendation: Increase enrollment by 352 students BESE: Approved expansion 9-1	Due Dec 13, 2024
KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School	Lynn	K–12	1,586	Increase enrollment by 1,361 seats UPDATED Recommendation: Increase enrollment by 450 students BESE : Rejected expansion 6-4	Letter from Lynn Superintendent Lynn Testimony at 9/24/24 BESE Meeting Due Dec 13, 2024
Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School	Agawam, Amherst, Amherst-Pelham, Belchertown, Chesterfield-Goshen, Chicopee, Conway, Deerfield, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Frontier, Gill-Montague, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hampden-Wilbraham, Hampshire, Hatfield, Hawlemont, Holyoke, Leverett, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Mohawk Trail, Northampton, Pelham, Pioneer Valley, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Southampton, Southwick-Tolland-Granville, Springfield, Sunderland, West Springfield, Westfield, Westhampton, Whately, Williamsburg	K-12	584	Increase enrollment by 100 seats UPDATED Recommendation: Increase enrollment by 100 students (with conditions) BESE: Approved expansion 6-4	Due Dec 13, 2024
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School	Agawam, Amherst-Pelham, Belchertown, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Erving, Frontier, Gateway, Gill-Montague, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hampden-Wilbraham, Hampshire Regional, Hatfield, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Mohawk Trail, Monroe, Monson, Northampton, Palmer, Pioneer Valley, Ralph C. Mahar, Rowe, South Hadley, Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional, Springfield, Tantasqua, Ware, West Springfield, Westfield	7-12	400	Reduce the number of districts named in the region to 18 districts (Proposed region includes Agawam, Amherst-Pelham, Belchertown, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Granby, Hadley, Hamden-Wilbraham, Hampshire Regional, Hatfield, Holyoke, Ludlow, Northampton, South Hadley, Springfield, West Springfield, and Westfield UPDATED Recommendation: Reduce the number of districts named in the region to 18 districts BESE: Approved 8-4	Due Dec 13, 2024
Salem Academy Charter School	Salem	6-12	400	Increase enrollment by 70 seats UPDATED Recommendation: Not recommending approval at this time.	Due Dec 13, 2024
South Shore Charter Public School	Abington, Braintree, Brockton, Cohasset, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hingham, Holbrook, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Quincy, Randolph, Rockland, Scituate, Weymouth, Whitman-Hanson	K-12	1,075	Increase enrollment by 225 seats UPDATED Recommendation: Increase enrollment by 225 students BESE: Approved 6-4	Due Dec 13, 2024

Your chance to submit comments on the proposed amendments is happening now. The deadline for public comment for charter amendments is was December 13, 2024.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
c/o Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign
135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149
Email to charterschools@mass.gov.

Charter School Tuition Cap Increases

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing an adjustment to the “lowest 10 percent” of districts. This changes the calculus for how funding a district can lose to charter schools.

The Massachusetts charter school law and regulations limit the amount of charter school tuition that can be charged to school district in any given year. The default limit is 9 percent of the district’s net school spending (NSS). For districts in the “lowest 10 percent” of all statewide MCAS scores from the two most recent school years the tuition limit increases to 18 percent of NSS. The “lowest 10 percent” list was most recently updated in spring 2024 based on 2022 and 2023 data. Eight districts moved onto the list and eight districts moved out.

Athol-Royalston	Greenfield	Lynn	Orange	Revere	Springfield
Chelsea	Hawlemont	Marlborough	Oxford	Rowe	Taunton
Chicopee	Holyoke	New Bedford	Palmer	Salem	Webster
Everett	Hoosac Valley Regional	North Adams	Pioneer Valley	Southbridge	Winchendon
Fall River	Lawrence	North Brookfield	Pittsfield	Spencer-East Brookfield

Applications to Renew for Existing Charter Schools

All charter schools are required to submit annual reports and apply to renew their charter every five years. The FY2025 cohort of charter school renewals includes two schools who are also seeking to amend the geographic region of their charters (Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School and South Shore Charter Public School).

DESE anticipates that requests for renewal will be brought to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for consideration prior to the February 25, 2025 BESE meeting.

The deadline for public comment for charter renewals is December 13, 2024.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
c/o Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign
135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149
Email to charterschools@mass.gov.

Charter School Name	Current District or Region	Maximum Enrollment	Grade Span
Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School	Clinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Maynard	966	6–12
Atlantis Charter School	Fall River	1,378	K–12
Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School	Bellingham, Blackstone/Millville, Franklin, Holliston, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon/Upton, Milford, Millis, Norfolk, Plainville, Walpole, Wrentham	900	K–8
Boston Renaissance Charter Public School	Boston	944	PK–6
Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School	Barnstable, Bourne, Dennis-Yarmouth, Falmouth, Mashpee, Monomoy Regional, Nauset, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro	260	6–8
Community Charter School of Cambridge	Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Revere	420	6–12
Community Day Charter Public School	Lawrence	1,200	PK–8
Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School	Acton-Boxborough, Ashburnham-Westminster, Athol-Royalston, Ayer Shirley, Bedford, Berlin-Boylston, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Clinton, Concord, Concord-Carlisle, Fitchburg, Gardner, Grafton, Groton-Dunstable, Harvard, Hudson, Leominster, Lincoln, Lincoln-Sudbury, Littleton, Lowell, Lunenburg, Marlborough, Maynard, Narragansett, Nashoba, Newton, Northboro-Southboro, North Middlesex, Orange, Oxford, Quabbin, Ralph C. Mahar, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Sudbury, Tyngsborough, Wachusett, Wayland, West Boylston, Westborough, Westford, Westminster, Weston, Winchendon, Worcester	400	7–12
Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School	Amherst, Amherst-Pelham, Belchertown, Central Berkshire, Chesterfield-Goshen, Conway, Deerfield, Easthampton, Erving, Frontier, Gateway, Gill Montague, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hampshire, Hatfield, Hawlemont, Leverett, Mohawk Trail, New Salem-Wendell, Northampton, Orange, Pelham, Pioneer Valley, Ralph C. Mahar, Rowe, Shutesbury, Southampton, South Hadley, Sunderland, Ware, Westhampton, Whately, Williamsburg	218	K–8
Holyoke Community Charter School	Chicopee, Holyoke	702	K–8
Lawrence Family Development Charter School	Lawrence	1,000	PK–8
Lowell Community Charter Public School	Lowell	815	PK–8
Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School	Lowell	150	9–12
Marblehead Community Charter Public School	Marblehead, Nahant, Swampscott	230	4–8
Match Charter Public School	Boston	1,250	PK–12
Neighborhood House Charter School	Boston	828	PK–12
South Shore Charter Public School	Abington, Braintree, Brockton, Cohasset, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hingham, Holbrook, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Quincy, Randolph, Rockland, Scituate, Weymouth, Whitman-Hanson	1,075	K–12
Springfield International Charter School	Springfield	1,574	K–12
Springfield Preparatory Charter School	Springfield	486	K–8

New Charter School Proposals

No letters of intent or initial applications were submitted to DESE this year. Applications to open a new charter school were due on August 5, 2024.

Surrendered Charters

The BESE voted to accept the voluntary return of the charter for the Helen Y Davis Leadership Academy Public Charter School at the September 2024 meeting.

Commonwealth Virtual Schools

No applications to open a CMVS were submitted this year. Watch this space for a link to updates on CMVS activities soon.