Providence to close elementary school that shares space with charter school. What it means

PROVIDENCE — Fortes Elementary School, the center of a heated debate last summer between Gov. Dan McKee and Mayor Jorge Elorza, will be closed, opening the door for a charter school to remain there permanently.

Staff at Fortes Elementary, which currently houses an Achievement First elementary charter school, were told Wednesday that the school would close, according to Jeremy Sencer, vice president of the Providence Teachers Union.

Victor Morente, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Education, said that last March, the district informed the faculty that Fortes and Lima would merge into one school, under one principal.

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“Merging two historically low-performing elementary schools located on the same campus promotes a cohesive and unified approach towards supporting students in grades K-5,” Morente said.

In the past, he said, students would “graduate” from Fortes to attend second through fifth grade at Lima, adding that “unifying schools will improve alignment across grades.”

The 20 teachers at Fortes will receive consolidation notices that will allow them to apply for positions at Lima or at other district schools. The district will also host interview and résumé support sessions at the school, Morente said.

Meanwhile, there are no immediate plans to house the charter school there permanently.

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Jillian Fain, Achievement First's director of external relations and advocacy, said in an email that the school’s current agreement with Providence runs through June 30 and next year’s agreement has not yet been finalized.

“Our hope is to continue this successful co-location next year,” she said in an email.

Last summer, teachers were caught by surprise when they learned that a charter elementary school was moving into Fortes, which shares a building with Lima Elementary School. Fortes students shared a building with Achievement First this year.

The move upset teachers from Fortes-Lima, who felt their tight-knit community would be disrupted. And it has once again raised the specter of a large charter “taking over” the Providence Public Schools.

Elorza, who helped bring Achievement First to Providence and serves on its board, said last summer that he wasn’t informed of the Achievement First relocation until March, when the process was well under way.

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McKee took issue with the decision, saying Elorza should not have signed a one-year lease with the charter school. He also suggested that another location be found. That prompted Elorza to accuse McKee of trying to curry favor with the Providence Teachers Union, which has been opposed to the charter network’s expansion.

At the time, the governor’s office was in the midst of negotiations with the union.

Achievement First has opened four elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. Another school opened this fall.

Linda Borg covers education for the Journal.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Fortes school in Providence will close but Achievement First may stay