Illegal Meeting Aborted; Co. Starts Work, Anyway | New Haven Independent

Illegal Meeting Aborted; Co. Starts Work, Anyway | New Haven Independent

Illegal Meeting Aborted; Co. Starts Work, Anyway

BY Melissa Bailey | MAY 17, 2011 7:25 AM

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Posted to: Schools, The Hill, School Reform

The Board of Ed postponed a vote on turning over the first city school to a for-profit entity, as the company revealed it has already secretly begun working at the Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy, anyway, before the public received notice.

School board President Carlos Torre opened a special board meeting at 6 p.m. Monday night to vote on a $456,000 contract with Renaissance School Services, LLC, a Califon, N.J.-based school management company, to run Clemente next fall.

Clemente, which has been considered a failing school for nearly a decade, has been tapped as a “turnaround” school as part of the city’s new school reform effort. Schools Superintendent Reggie Mayo first revealed in March that he was in talks with a company to manage the neighborhood school, which serves 538 students in grades pre-K to 8 at 360 Columbus Ave. in the Hill.

School officials talked to Clemente parents and staff last week about Renaissance, but refused to hold any public discussions ahead of Monday’s meeting and barred the press from a community meeting with parents about the deal. (Read about that here).

As Torre opened the board meeting Monday, the Independent objected to the proceedings on the