PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s proposal to expand a charter network to 3,000 students is close to becoming a reality.
The Board of Directors for Achievement First charter network voted Monday to add a K-8 school, which would add 1,000 more students.
The expansion of the charter school has already been backed by Gov. Gina Raimondo and state Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green but will still have to get approval from the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education.
But the charter network board did not vote on the second half of the mayor’s proposal that permits the high-performing charter school to expand in exchange for limiting the growth of new charters in Providence.
Elorza had opposed the full expansion in 2016, stating the financial consequences for the district’s public schools.
