I’m a proud parent of a high school student who has been attending PACE Career Academy for two years. As an active parent, I’ve seen the school go through many changes, some good, some not. We were shocked and dismayed by the board’s recent decision to close the school. Their timing could not be any worse.
Students are returning to school after months of being isolated at home. They’re anxious and need the support and care of staff, teachers and guidance counselors. The pandemic has affected them deeply, and they just want things to go back to normal.
Closing PACE Career Academy is like pulling the rug from under them when they are down and depressed. As a parent, I’ve had many correspondences with board chair Hanson and he has given me many reasons for the closing. The board never contacted the parents ahead of time to ask for help or ideas.
His reasons for closing include that the school cannot run on the stipend given to charters by the state and PACE needs to do more fundraising. As far as fundraising goes, the board “laid off” their previous school director last January. He has years of experience doing fundraising in the greater Boston area. He was able to move the school to a beautiful new building and increase enrollment. They replaced him with a person who has never worked at a charter school before.
It’s not that I do not think that fundraising is necessary. I personally volunteered hours of my time this year to write a grant for PACE. The grant was funded and now the money will have to be returned.
As I look around the state, there are many charter schools that are “making it” on the $7,188 per student that they are funded by the state. Yet chair Hanson says, “these funds are insufficient” for PACE. I know my son’s district (SAU 67) sent additional funds to PACE and paid the full salary for a para for our son.
Chair Hanson says he will go to Pembroke school district as ask them to open an alternative school. This does not help the children affected by the school’s closing now. I offered Chair Hanson and the current school director many solutions including PACE returning to a half-day program. PACE originally was a half-day academic program. Many students worked or went to an internship the other half of the day. A half-day of support (after the pandemic) is better than none.
We are left as parents to explain to our son that he must go through another change at a time when he needs consistency and care the most. I’m asking the Department of Education, Jane Waterhouse and Gov. Sununu to investigate PACE’s closing. Can someone see if there are any state or federal funds to help PACE stay afloat? As we all recover from the grueling months of the pandemic, can we put our children first?
(Patricia Bedford lives in Bow.)