PROVIDENCE — City leaders on Thursday proposed a new lease agreement with charter system Achievement First, shortening the length of time the charter school would initially be allowed to keep operating a school inside Fortes Elementary School in the city’s West End.
The amended lease deal is for a five-year term, with the option to extend it four times up to 25 years. The lease was updated in response to opposition to the original deal, which would have given the charter a 20-year lease with the option to extend up to 40 years.
The original agreement was facing headwinds from the Providence City Council, which is required to approve the lease. It was narrowly approved by a council committee earlier this month, and was scheduled for a vote by the full council Thursday, but it was unclear if it would have to votes to pass as written.
Advertisement
The council tabled the vote on Thursday because the new agreement was reached too late in the day for councilors to read it, Council President Rachel Miller said.
Miller said a special meeting would likely be held next week to vote on the new lease. Time is running out for the school, which is under an agreement that expires June 30. More than 372 students currently attend Achievement First Promesa Elementary in the building.
Miller said the new agreement has more accountability than the original. The amended deal requires Achievement First to spend $2.5 million on capital improvements, upkeep and maintenance to the building, and to also produce a facilities infrastructure assessment within six months, plus a subsequent plan for how they will make improvements.
The city would still charge the charter school $1 in annual rent.
Achievement First doesn’t currently have a lease to operate out of the former Fortes building, and is instead under a “licensing” agreement first struck by former Mayor Jorge Elorza in 2021.
Advertisement
The licensing deal, which was never approved by the City Council because it was not technically a lease, sparked outrage from teachers and parents whose children had to move schools in order to make room for the charter. (Fortes is attached to Lima Elementary School, and the two schools merged.)
The conversation about whether to let the school stay put has been part of a larger debate over the expansion of charter schools, including whether they should be moving into public school buildings.
For example: two other Providence public schools, Alan Shawn Feinstein at Broad Street Elementary and Carl G. Lauro Elementary, are shutting down permanently on Friday when the school year ends. Students are being scattered between 19 other elementary schools this fall.
Mayor Brett Smiley has already said he would be interested in leasing the empty buildings to charter schools, prompting consternation from parents who never wanted their children to be displaced in the first place. (The decision to close the schools was made by state officials, not Smiley.)
Miller, who supports the new deal, said she sees this Achievement First lease as separate from the overall charter conversation.
“Because there are kids in the building right now,” Miller said. “We’re going to do our very best to do it by June 30.”
Bill Fischer, a spokesperson for Achievement First, said they had agreed to multiple concessions and are hoping the lease will be approved next week.
Advertisement
The charter school’s leaders had previously said they would not be able to finance improvements to the school building without a long-term lease, and they also don’t have a backup plan for where to house the students if a lease is not approved.
A contingent of parents and advocates from the pro-charter school group “Stop the Wait R.I.” gathered in the council chamber Thursday for the expected vote, and some were disappointed that it didn’t take place.
“Everyone pays taxes, and our kids deserve good school buildings, even if they go to charter schools,” said Janie Segui Rodriguez, whose daughter attends a different Achievement First school in Providence.
The group was formed back when state lawmakers were considering a moratorium on charter school expansion, concerned about diverting funds away from traditional public school districts. (The moratorium did not become law.)
“There’s no difference between the kids in the left side of the building and the right side of the building,” Rodriguez said. She said her daughter’s education improved markedly when she switched from a traditional public school to a charter school.
But those with concerns about charter school expansion, including teachers’ unions, are worried about resources — including buildings — being pulled from traditional public school districts, which are required to educate all children who live in their town or city.
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @StephMachado.