WARWICK — The Warwick Education Committee and the Warwick Community Education Task Force are moving forward in drafting an application to redesign Warwick Community School as a Horace Mann II Conversion School.
If successfully converted, the school would be the first Horace Mann II Conversion School in the state.
Adam Holloway, chairman of the Community Education Task Force, described the redesign as a community-wide effort during a presentation to the School Committee earlier this month. The task force is comprised of Holloway, vice-chairman Tom Wyatt and Diane Noble, chairwoman of the Warwick Finance Committee.
“Warwickians are rolling up their sleeves to assist local elementary education as they did when the school was built 20 years ago,” Wyatt said.
First, the Warwick Education Committee needs to submit a prospectus — a 20-page draft application — to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) by Sept. 27. To complete the application, the Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee must give its approval.
According to the task force, the new school would still be part of the Pioneer district, but would operate as “an independently governed, chartered conversion school with high standards for learning, innovative use of technology and curriculum, and lower per-pupil cost.”
After review from DESE, the Education Committee may receive an invitation to submit a full application no later than December.
“The plan is to have the prospectus in the hands of the School Committee by Sept. 12,” Holloway said.
The School Committee will meet for its regularly scheduled meeting that day, and then review the prospectus before reconvening on Sept. 19 for discussion. A second meeting is scheduled for Sept. 23 in case further review is necessary. The prospectus will also be submitted to the Warwick Selectboard for approval.
According to the Education Committee, the prospectus will contain: a brief introduction of Warwick history, an overview of the school’s mission and key elements, a draft curriculum and assessment method, a five-year budget plan and a draft memorandum of understanding with the School Committee.
By redesigning the school, the Education Committee has identified ways to reduce costs while still providing the quality of education Warwick Community School is known for, Holloway said. Additionally, with successful completion of the application, the school would be eligible for a $500,000 start-up grant that would be used for non-operational costs for the first three years.
The Education Committee and Community Education Task Force have been meeting each Tuesday at Town Hall to discuss the prospectus, as well as to develop the memorandum of understanding outlining how the conversion school and Pioneer school district would work together.
“We’re working with committee members and the superintendent to fully develop that,” Holloway said, noting he is pleased with how seriously the School Committee is taking the conversion proposal.
According to Holloway, teachers would remain in their union. He said the Education Committee is working with the current Warwick teachers to make sure they have a say in the process.
“We fully support any effort to keep an elementary school in Warwick in whatever form the community chooses,” said Warwick Community School teacher Lynn Hansell.
However, Hansell explained that a previous Horace Mann II conversion proposal was made a few years ago and, at the time, the teachers did not want to work within a charter school.
She noted that if teachers aren’t pleased with the final situation, a section of the DESE information about Horace Mann II schools gives teachers within the school being converted the right “to be placed elsewhere within the same district at a comparable grade level, according to and within the guidelines of the teacher’s contract.”
If DESE invites Warwick to submit a full application, it will go before the commissioner and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for approval in February 2020. If approved, the Horace Mann II Conversion School aims to open in August 2020.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.