Contract enables EBDI to start community school

When the East Baltimore Community School reopened on Aug. 31, with a little under 200 students enrolled, some spoke positively of the school, but there has been controversy surrounding its inception.

The East Baltimore Community School is run by the East Baltimore Development Initiative, or EBDI. EBDI was created in 2003 to redevelop 88 acres of East Baltimore.

Donald Gresham, president of the Save Middle East Action, a group that seeks to protect the interests of residents in the middle east of Baltimore, said that EBDI has never been transparent with the residents.

He said residents "never felt like their opinions were important from the beginning."

Furthermore, he noted that "everything we have ever gotten from EBDI, we fought for it."

While he says the school "makes them look good," he is worried that "it's not helping the kids who moved out." He feels that the school is only meant to bring new residents into the community.

"They claim a high percentage of the students at the new school are from the community," he said. "I'm not really sure these students represent what the community used to be."

According to Laura Weeldreyer, deputy chief of staff for Andrés Alonso, CEO of the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS), those running the school "applied to be a charter school, but by Maryland law, a charter school must be open citywide and must enroll on a citywide basis by lottery."

However, said Weeldreyer, "School districts are free to contract outside of that (law)."

Since the school is meant to serve a specific community, it could not become a bona-fide charter school.

Therefore it became "a charter school by a different name," Weeldreyer said.

The East Baltimore Community School is what is known as a contract school. EBDI signed "a contract with the school administration outlining certain autonomies and certain accountabilities," Weeldreyer said.

While the school has the autonomy of a charter school, according to its principal, Cathleen Miles, it also has "an opportunity to prioritize, not reserve, 70 percent of our slots for any of our families that were relocated by the redevelopment project, have moved back or are currently living in the redevelopment area."

Like all BCPSS schools, the East Baltimore Community School will "receive funding from us on a per-pupil basis," said Weeldreyer.

However, she also said, "I'm sure EBDI has put money in."

Miles confirmed this, saying, "Our primary funding source is public dollars and then we do have primary funders and partners. The Annie E. Casey foundation and the Johns Hopkins University are among the friends of EBDI."

The school is not yet complete. Only kindergarten, first and fifth grades are open at this time, though eventually the school will be K-8.

"In the fourth year we [will be] a full K-8 school," said Miles. In addition, the school is currently in temporary buildings.

The school's curriculum is designed to use expeditionary learning, which Miles described as "a school design which includes a variety of strategies for increased academic achievement, including cross-discipline project-based learning and methods of fostering a positive climate and culture such as morning meeting, small group meetings for middle grades and targeted professional development for staff."

Weeldreyer described the new school as "a magnet to bring back families displaced by the development" and as a "draw to the neighborhood." "[It offers] wrap-around services," she said. "It is something of a super school."

Miles hopes the school will make people look at EBDI more positively.

"EBDI's image is not necessarily its truth. It's a fabulous organization. The school is a part of the promise EBDI made to the community. What it states is that a promise has been made and a promise has been kept," she said.

Several parents and guardians of students attending the school commented on it. While none of them wished to give their names, they had positive things to say.

"It's a nice school. It's different than the other schools my granddaughter attended. It's really good," said one.

Another said, "I like it. It's way better than the other school [my daughter] was in."

Both thought it would improve the community's perception of EBDI.