Group tries to save Springfield school

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - This will be the last school year for Springfield's New Leadership Charter School, but parents are continuing the fight.

It's a last ditch effort to save a school in Springfield.  A group has applied to change the New Leadership Charter School into a innovation school.

It was a packed room Thursday night at Springfield city hall as parents, students and teachers of the New Leadership Charter school listened to their chances of saving the school.

It’s a school students like Amore Joseph say is more like a home.

He explained, “They take care of us like if we're part of their family."

For many, the charter school model with its small classrooms and one on one attention really worked.

Joseph, who is in 6 ^th grade, told 22News, “I've been getting better grades than I've ever gotten before and my moms really proud of me and I'm happy and I really want to stay and keep this school."

The school’s charter wasn't renewed this year after the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reviewed their finances and academics.

Now, they're hoping to get a second chance through the city as an innovation school.

They're similar to charter schools, but run by the city instead of the state.

The Springfield School Committee began the application process Thursday night but Superintendent Daniel Warwick said it may be too late.

He explained, “The innovation planning grants expired in December because the process should have started in the fall, so it started late. It's a tough time frame but we're going to work through the process in a very organized and legal manner so we give it our due diligence.”

With only months to go before they must find a new school for their children, some parents told 22News they're worried about their students' future.

Augustine Santiago said, “My kid has been in that school for 3 years he hasn't missed one day of school so Zaida Govan said, “If she doesn't go here I'm going to put here in a private school and pay for that, I don't know how, I will have to get 3 or 4 jobs to do it but that's what I will do."

She told 22News, she worries what will happen to her daughter’s classmates.

She explained, “Other students that are 11th graders, they have said they will drop out instead of going to another school that they're not used to.”

A panel composed of a the superintendent, a school committee member and a representative of the teacher’s union have 30 days to review the application and determine if it should move forward.