Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School

161 Lower Westfield Rd., Holyoke MA 01040

May 28, 2018

Dear Commissioner,

On behalf of the Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School’s (PFSJC) Board of Trustees, I respectfully
request your approval of an amendment to change our charter’s identified school location from Holyoke
to Chicopee. This change to our charter will be effective upon your approval as the Commissioner.

The PFSJC School Board of Trustees wishes to make this change because although we have attempted to
find a site in Holyoke, we have been unable to ascertain one. Early in our charter term, we had
identified our initial site, which was located in the downtown section of Holyoke and which would have
comfortably served our school. Unfortunately, at the last minute, the building was not available and we
were forced to delay our opening for an additional year. It was only after a second full bid process, we
finally worked out an agreement with a local construction company to rent our current site. We
immediately began planning for an expansion that would service the future needs of our school and
with the assistance of this company and an architectural firm we worked with our Site Committee to
design a permanent site and put together a final contract. The new site was to be completed by the
third year of the Charter term, but unfortunately due to unanticipated increased costs, the decision was
made not to pursue this proposal, and we were left without a site option or proposal. We are now
putting together a third bid process. This is imperative because the lease we have will increase to close
to $900,000 effective this July 2018, which is approximately $100,000 more than FY 18 lease payment.
Additionally, the 2018/19 school year is the last year of the lease and the landlord has informed us that
he does not intend on renewing the lease with us. We have been researching and assessing various
available and potentially available sites within Holyoke. Our current landlord (O’Connell Development
Co.) has been assisting us in investigating options, and assessing their viability. Unfortunately, the
options within Holyoke, identified as possible or as viable options are not ready for immediate
occupancy and would take anywhere between two to four additional years to prepare for occupancy. If
the Board were to entertain building their own building, the Board would have to take the necessary
steps to ensure the fiscal revenues to support the construction. Such efforts would entail multiple years
to build the fiscal revenue.

The site in Chicopee, is currently the interim site for Pope Francis High School. The high school was built
several years ago to meet the needs of the diocese of Springfield to house two high schools; Cathedral
and St. Michael’s High School. The diocese will be moving their students out to a newly built high school
this September 2018 in Springfield, leaving this high school available. As a newly built high school, this
building will offer PFSJC school students and teachers much that we currently are unable to offer in our
current site. For example; a library, science and computer labs, music room, art and pottery rooms,
teacher planning rooms and walls and classrooms constructed to endure the time and hardships of
teenagers. The Diocese has expressed interest in entering into a lease with PFSJCS, and has suggested
the possibility of negotiating a very reasonable lease rate, such negotiations may result in the lease
being set at operating costs. Additionally, our current landlord (O’Connell Development Co) has been
working collaboratively with us as we pursue this option and will work with PFSJCS if necessary to
renegotiate the lease terms for FY19.

Finally, since our first enrollment period, we have focused on a door-to-door approach in some of the
poorest neighborhoods in Holyoke, providing communication in both English and Spanish, and when
needed, Arabic. The majority of our students come from low-income, single parent, Spanish-speaking
households in Holyoke. The majority of our students have never had the opportunity for quality
education, and many have not been identified or provided with necessary services. We find the majority
of families we reach door-to-door have little communication with the surrounding community, and have
no idea that we exist, and that there is another option for high school. Although we are requesting a
location change to Chicopee, Paulo Freire will continue to be committed to the families in Holyoke,
reaching out to Holyoke students, bringing them to the Chicopee location, providing them with
transportation, and continuing to strive to have a presence in Holyoke, as our goal will be to ultimately
return to Holyoke.

We are requesting approval to locate PFSJCS to this school temporarily for a minimum period of three
years to allow our community the time to continue to investigate options in Holyoke and if located to
prepare the new site for occupancy.

Financial Plan

PFSJCS is in the process of discussing possible lease proposals with the owners/realtor of the available
school in Chicopee. Preliminary conversations with the President of the Company handling the
rental/sale of the school, have been very productive and positive. Initial negotiations include proposals
that the lease would begin low, possibly to be set at the cost of operation or slightly above, in the first
few years and to potentially include some or all existing school furniture, with the lease increasing in the
latter term as enrollment grows. If we were to reach agreement regarding a lease, depending upon
when we receive approval, we would be looking to transition either during the summer or no later than
after the Holiday break, into the new school. As the school was recently built (within 10 years) there are
no renovation needs, however there will be moving needs. The attached financial document shows
sufficient funds to cover any expenditures as savings will be made through the reduction in the rental
lease and can be shifted to other lines within the operations expenditures (See financial documents:
Appendix A)

Transportation Plan

Currently the PFSJCS provides transportation to students located in the schools within the charter
region. This transportation is provided to these students without cost. Further, we have not entered
into any mutual agreement requesting the sending districts to provide transportation for these students
to our school. Our current agreement with our Bus Co. provides for the transportation of our students
within a 25 mile radius of our school. These expenditures have been accounted for and agreed upon.
As the expenditures for transportation are based on number of buses, not on the number of students
within a particular location, the projected expenditures has been accounted for and included within the
FY 19 projected budget. As the school is located in Chicopee and Chicopee is within our charter region,
it is within the set parameters of the 25 mile radius agreed upon and it is only approximately 5 miles
away from the current setting. Therefore, any increase in transportation would be minimal resulting
from mileage, and as such, we do not anticipate a significant increase in transportation costs. Any
additional costs will be covered with existing funds.

The PFSJC School Board of Trustees voted to approve this request on May 29, 2018 at a meeting held in
compliance with Massachusetts Open Meeting Law G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18-25. At that meeting, the Board of
Trustees authorized me to submit this request on their behalf.

The PFSJC School Board of Trustees also authorized the school to work with the Department to make
any minor technical changes to the amendment submitted for approval if such changes are necessary to
meet the requirements of statute or regulations, and are codified in Department guidance that was not
adhered to in our submission.

The Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School is an academic success, through our Dual Enrollment
program, our students have been able to gain college credit while they successfully meet high school
requirements. In fact, over 55% of the students of this past senior class, (class of ’17) completed more
than 3 college credits and 98% of all PFSJCS students passed all their college classes with grades higher
than a ‘C’. PFSJC is a viable organization, the Board of Trustees is now fully staffed with 13 members,
who have met their OML training and financial disclosures requirements. This year we are proud to say
that our Valedictorian will be graduating with a G.P.A. of 4.52 , and in addition to his High School
Diploma, an Associates Degree from Holyoke Community College.

The Board has also elected officers: President, VP, Secretary and Treasurer. Additionally, the leadership
of the school is comprised of a strong team of experienced administrators. The Leadership Team
includes an Executive Director with over 30 years-experience, 25- years in educational administration,
with almost 15 years as a Chief Executive; A principal with over 25 years-experience; two Deans; a
Director of MIS; Director of Staff and Student Services; Director of Academic Support; School Nurse and
Department heads for each academic area. Lastly, the school is faithful to the terms of its charter. In
Paulo Freire’s final Renewal Inspection Report, the findings identified Paulo as a school that creates a
safe school environment and addresses the physical, social, emotional, and health needs of its students.
Further identifying that it was documented that the school consistently provided a safe school
environment, crediting small size and the prioritization of close staff/student relationships as key
components. (See Renewal Inspection Report Soc. Emot. Criterion 7)

The PFSJC School Board of Trustees requests your approval of this amendment as soon as possible.

Please contact me, Dr. Isabelina Rodriguez, irodriguez@paulofreirecharterschool.org or at 413-536-

3201, if you any questions about this request.

Sincerely,

Isabelina Rodriguez EdD

Executive Director,
Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School
C: Alyssa Hopkins
Allison Bagg
PFSJCS Board of Trustee members

Enclosures