Can a Windham Charter School Help Resolve WSD Problems?

When Windham Taxpayers overwhelmingly voted down the proposed two-grade, $50M school last March – it was an important first step in getting Windham School District (WSD) taxes under control. The next step is to find cost effective solutions to our needs. The most glaring (and potentially costly) need is to reduce the crowding problem in the Windham Middle School (WMS).

With this goal in mind, the Windham Taxpayers Coalition formed a committee about six months ago to address the WMS issue. Several obvious solutions were researched, including expanding the WMS and moving the 8th grade students to the high school.

A few months ago, we began to explore another option, opening a new Charter School in Windham. The WTC reached out to many NH experts on education to learn more about the possibilities and potential benefits. This led us to several individuals who are now actively involved in our planning; Matt Southerton and Thomas Frischknecht.

Mr. Southerton is the Director of the NH Center for Innovative Schools (www.nhcharterschools.org). His organization provides specialized assistance to help new charter school ventures get started.

Mr. Frischknect is the Chairman of the Academy of Science and Design, the highest achieving charter school in NH (www.asdnh.org), and the founder of the Founders Academy, an approved charter school that will open in Londonderry next year (www.thefoundersacademy.org).

Our collective research has led us to believe that opening a local district charter school in Windham would be a zero tax impact solution to the WMS crowding issue.

Two weeks ago Windham resident, Tom Murray, told the school board he was pursuing the idea of opening a charter school in Windham. Since then we joined forces and formed the Educational Choices Foundation, a non-profit organization that will sponsor the new charter school.

There is still much work to be done and more information to share, but here is a summary of the benefits and comments that were presented at the Windham School Board meeting on Tuesday, November 19th.

• Our venture has the support and direct involvement of some of NH’s most knowledgeable charter school experts.
• Mr. Murray owns the building that is currently under construction at 183 Rockingham Rd. (Rt 28), Windham. This is the intended location for the school.
• Upon opening, the charter school would be able to absorb approximately 300 students from the Windham School District which should alleviate capacity issues in the district.
• This approach would provide a zero tax impact to the WSD.
• The charter school would become eligible for an estimated $400K to $575K in start-up grants. Again, this would have no tax impact to Windham taxpayers.
• It would reduce the need to hire additional teachers and thereby keep future payroll and benefits lower.
• It provides a viable education choice for parents.
• Charter schools can be approved by the NH DOE or by a local school board.
• State approved charter schools must accept applicants from all towns which would drastically restrict the number of Windham students that could be accepted. This is why we prefer the local district charter school approach.
• We are asking the Windham School Board to approve the charter school for two reasons: (1) it will expedite the process, and (2) a local approved charter school will ensure that Windham students are given preference for acceptance.
• While there is still a lot of work to be done, this appears to be an option that could be supported by Windham taxpayers.
• This solution would obviate the need to expand the WMS for $17.5M + $7.7M in interest ($25.2M total).
• We asked the WSB to meet in about a month for a special presentation of our plans. The school board authorized Superintendent Feneberg to schedule and coordinate the meeting.

We look forward to working with the school board and district administration towards making this opportunity a reality.

The Windham Taxpayers Coalition

www.WindhamTaxpayers.org