OLD BRIDGE -- Many parents, students, and school officials are waging a fight against a proposal to build a charter school in the district.
More than 200 people gathered at the Superintendent's Forum at Old Bridge High School recently to assail a plan to open the Albert Einstein EnergySmart Charter School. The K-2 school would be built on Route 9 and focus on teaching about renewable energy through science, technology and math coursework.
School officials and community members believe the charter would teach the same material as the district and drain money from the district's budget. When parents opt for charters, their public school district pays the tuition.
"I am not someone to tell you all charter schools are bad," said Schools Superintendent David Cittadino, who spoke at the forum on Jan. 30. "But as an educator in a successful school district that is successfully providing a thorough education for all of its students, I am saying that a charter school in our community is unwarranted and would just be a duplication of services."
The charter would house 160 students in the first year at a cost of $1.6 million, district officials said. By the 2020-2021, the charter would house 360 students at a cost of $3.6 million.
District school officials believe if the state approves the charter, it would "drain millions of dollars from our budget causing Old Bridge to lose many of its programs," said Lori Luicci, of the Old Bridge School District, in an email.
Those seeking to open the charter school say in their application to the state cite the district's PARCC test scores, and say the school district has failed to adequately prepare students for higher education.
"Parents are expressing the belief that the communities of Old Bridge are in desperate need of additional elementary schools," the application reads.
But Cittadino said the test scores cited in the charter's application were from Perth Amboy schools, not Old Bridge. He said his district has out performed more than 64 percent of the schools in New Jersey on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams.
"They are trying to establish a need that was either fraudulently or irresponsibly put in there," Cittadino said.
Oguz Yildiz, lead person at the proposed charter's affiliate, the Thomas Edison EnergySmart School in Somerset, acknowledged the errors on the application and said the state was aware of Old Bridge's actual test scores.
Nonetheless, he maintained that the community had expressed a desperate need to provide parents and their children with an another school option.
"We walked the streets of Old Bridge and spoke to whoever we passed," Yildiz told NJ Advance Media in an email. "Those we spoke with were in favor of a charter school."
Ravi Gandhi, a junior at Old Bridge High School, is one of several students who opposes the charter. He spoke to NJ Advance Media by telephone along with his sister, Roshni, 16, and fellow classmate, Dylan Schwartz, 18, both of whom feel the same as Ravi. Ravi Gandhi, 16, voiced his concerns in front of the crowd at the recent Superintendent's Forum.
"The charter is going to focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) but we already have programs in those areas," Ravi Ghandi said in the telephone interview. "And I'm afraid it will unnecessarily take away from (those programs)."
A decision by the state to approve the proposed charter school application is expected by Feb. 15.
Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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