Bartlett School parents are calling on the attorney general to investigate circumstances surrounding the closing of the private school.
A group of parents recently hand-delivered a signed seven-page letter to Attorney General Martha Coakley's office, outlining a number of grievances. In the letter, they claim efforts made on behalf of parents to save the school have been disregarded and they accuse the school's board of trustees of having special interests in selling the Trapelo Road property.
In early March, the trustees voted to close 75-year-old school before the next fiscal year for financial reasons, citing low enrollment as the major cause.
Since then, a group of parents have been meeting regularly in an attempt to save the school, which serves students from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade. In the letter, parents claim that since March trustees have only offered three options for the school's future: sale and lease back of the school property, a merger with another school or closing.
Regarding a potential merger, the letter says trustees hired a consultant to identify area schools that were possible merger partners and recommended only Schools for Children Inc., a private, not-for-profit organization made up of schools in Arlington and Charlestown.
"Since (Schools for Children Inc.) has a very different and incompatible mission from Bartlett and is a significant distance away, it seemed an entirely inappropriate choice to the parents," the letter states. "According to the board, no other schools were suitable, so no effort was made to approach any other schools."
According to its Web site, Schools for Children is a tax-exempt charitable institution with more than 150 faculty and staff serving about 300 students. Schools for Children's programs include private independent education, special education and other forms of alternative education.
The letter to the attorney general outlines potential conflicts of interest.
It states that when board Chairman Michael Knight met with parents on March 12 to discuss closing the school, he explained that the board had "acted quickly in its decision to close the school because it had identified a buyer for the school facility."
"In the board's view, in order to pay off the school's debt, it had no choice but to sell the facility and cease operations," the letter states. "Knight informed the parents that (Schools for Children), while unwilling to partner with Bartlett, had signed a letter of intent to purchase the Bartlett facility."
In response to parents' questions about how Schools for Children had been identified, Knight explained that a consultant had introduced the school to the trustees.
The letter states that several board members have ties to Schools for Children.
According to the letter, Knight informed parents in late April that Bartlett's board of trustees' Treasurer Roger Smith had a son attending Dearborn Academy, one of the institutions affiliated with Schools for Children. In addition, the letter says Frank Wisneski, a founding partner of Wellington Management and Knight's employer, is a trustee for Schools for Children. Also, Bartlett board member Liz Adams has a daughter who attended one of the schools connected with Schools for Children.
Parents also raised questions about enrollment.
According to Knight, the school requires a minimum enrollment of 98 students for the next school year with a total tuition of about $1.8 million to break even. Only 56 students had enrolled when the board voted to close the school.
"We believed that it was feasible to expect 20 new admissions, which would have required 78 of our current children to re-enroll," Knight stated in an April 21 letter to parents. "These numbers were critical given that the school had a projected cash deficit of $650,000 through the end of this current school year."
Yet in the letter to the attorney general, parents argue that when the board decided to close, the school had 56 contracts and 32 confirmed applicants for incoming students for the 2009-10 school year. Parents say this number is "only slightly fewer than Bartlett has had historically at this point in the application cycle."
Knight wrote in the April 21 letter to parents that the total liabilities of the school, including a shortfall of about $650,000 for the remainder of the current school year, is in excess of $5.3 million.
"This total includes a loan from a former parent and the loan from the bank," Knight wrote. "In addition, under the terms of the original bond indenture, the outside investor who purchased the Bartlett bond had the right to demand payment and collect under the related line of credit. This in fact did happen and TD Banknorth now holds the note directly."
Messages with board members went mostly unanswered. Member Paul Daley said "we don't have any comment on something that's going to be investigated by the attorney general."
Attempts to reach Theodore Wilson, president and executive director for Schools for Children, were unsuccessful.
Harry Pierre, a spokesman for Coakley, said the attorney general's office is reviewing the letter.
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or jgilbrid@cnc.com.
