Chinese charter school eyes three Hadley sites

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on August 17, 2007

HADLEY - Three locations in Hadley, including a site on Mill Valley Road, are being considered as the permanent home for the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School.

The Board of Selectmen Wednesday unanimously agreed to lend its support to the school's Board of Trustees for getting a Rural Development loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that could help build the school.

Though the charter will be located at 7 Pomeroy Lane in Amherst for its first year, Board of Trustees Chairman Richard Alcorn told selectmen the intent has been to develop the school building in Hadley. The charter school will open with 46 students in kindergarten and first grade with plans to enroll 300 students from kindergarten through eighth grade in the future.

"We're basically asking for your support to secure USDA funding for our school," Alcorn said.

Alcorn said the three sites include one on Mill Valley Road, which the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School had purchased with the intent to build its permanent home. Instead, that charter school stayed in temporary facilities in Hadley for several years before moving to South Hadley.

"We have potential sites, we don't have a firm site," Alcorn said. He did not name the other two sites at the meeting and he has not returned calls for comment

Earlier this summer, the charter school had also explored a site at 220 Russell St. (Route 9) where it would have put up portable classrooms. The only concern expressed by selectmen was whether having the charter school locate in Hadley might take away money from the town's schools. Alcorn said this would only happen if Hadley children decide to attend the charter school.

In Massachusetts, sending districts are reimbursed 100 percent of charter student tuition the first year they attend, 60 percent the second year and 40 percent the third. After the third year, those reimbursements stop.