WORCESTER – Five Massachusetts state legislators representing Worcester have sent a letter to express support for the Worcester School Committee’s request to investigate ties between Old Sturbridge Village and the Worcester Cultural Academy Charter School.
Senators Michael Moore, Robyn Kennedy, and Anne Gobi signed the letter. Representatives Mary Keefe and David LeBoeuf also signed on.
The letter, sent to State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Inspector General Jeffery Shapiro, and Executive Director Davis Wilson, requests an investigation to “examine the financial relationship, selection of the educational management organization, and composition of the Board of Trustees between Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) and the Worcester Cultural Academy Charter Public School (WCA).”
A proposal by the Worcester Cultural Academy says that Old Sturbridge Village leased property in Worcester with the intention of collecting a 7 percent feen all tuition payments it collects from the state. The Worcester School Committte say that will result in $1.7 million being paid to Old Sturbridge Village over its first five years of operation. At full capacity, several reports indicate the school will divert $7 million in annual funding that would otherwise be received by Worcester Public Schools.
A letter written by Old Sturbridge Village President and CEO Jim Donahue said:
“Our Academies are key to the future of the Village and expanding into Worcester will allow the Village to impact a greater number of students in an entirely new geographic area The Academies will provide reliable, contractual revenue to the museum, safeguarding us against fluctuations in uncontrollable factors that impact admission revenue such as weather and public health.”
The Worcester Cultural Academy received state approval from the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in March by a 7 to 4 vote. It plans to open for the 2023-2024 school year at 81 Plantation St. Old Sturbridge Academy, a charter school in Sturbridge which was founded in 2017, is also a project of Old Sturbridge Village.
Prior to that approval, the Worcester School Committee requested an investigation into the school.
The March letter by the Worcester School Committee is available here.
