Mystic Valley Regional Charter School

A second Muzzle Award to the Mystic Valley charter school — this time over a public records dispute

Imagine, if you will, a public school, supported by taxpayer dollars, claiming that it’s a private corporation and doesn’t have to comply with the state’s public records law. It is absurd on the face of it. Yet that’s what the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School is arguing in a case before the Supreme Judicial Court.

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According to an account by Jennifer Smith in CommonWealth Beacon, at least two of the justices appeared to be unimpressed by the Malden-based school’s claims when the case was argued at a recent hearing.

“You’re in real trouble,” Justice Scott Kafker told Charles Waters, a lawyer for the school, explaining, “It quacks like a duck, it waddles like a duck, it paddles like a duck.” Added Justice Dalia Wendlandt:

I understand charter schools were created to be independent in certain ways, to foster innovation in education and have the ability to do that in a way that the average public school does not. Good. But that doesn’t carry you to the argument that they’re not subject to the public record law.

At issue are some 10 instances in which public records were sought by a Facebook-based local news organization called the Malden News Network, Commonwealth Transparency and Malden mayoral candidate Lissette Alvarado. Smith reports that the requested information includes “corporate statements, contracts, ledgers, lease records, conflict of interest disclosures filed by board members, payments made to employees or professional services, and confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements.”

The case dates back to mid-2023, when state Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed a legal action against the school to force it to comply with the public records law. For fighting so stubbornly to conduct the public’s business behind closed doors, the Mystic Valley school has earned a New England Muzzle Award — its second. In 2017, I awarded a Muzzle to the school for discriminating against Black students by banning long braids and dreads. In 2022, the school sent a female Muslim student home because she was wearing a hijab in violation of the student dress code.

Despite the school’s reputation for academic excellence, there is clearly a culture problem that needs to be addressed.

According to Smith’s report in CommonWealth Beacon, Mystic Valley is claiming that it’s not subject to the public records law because “Charter schools, in their view, are public schools that are structured and treated in some ways more like corporations.” Among those disagreeing is the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. Then again, Mystic Valley is one of just three charter schools that are not members of that organization.

In an editorial (sub. req.) calling for the SJC to rule against Mystic Valley, The Boston Globe observes that the school has already lost in decisions rendered by the state supervisor of records, the attorney general and a Superior Court judge. The editorial concludes: “Charter schools have been a great asset to Massachusetts families; indeed, Mystic Valley has been ranked as one of the best schools in the state. But that’s not the issue here. The issue is that the public has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.”

The Mystic Valley Charter School, winner of a 2017 Muzzle, is back to its old tricks

Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Photo (cc) 2022 by Dan Kennedy.

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School — recipient of one of the all-time most outrageous New England Muzzle Awards back in 2017 — is in trouble once again, this time for its insistence on conducting the public’s business behind closed doors. Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub reports that state Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office has asked a judge to order that the taxpayer-funded school produce public documents it has refused to hand over despite requests at the local level as well as repeated demands by Secretary of State Bill Galvin.

🗽The New England Muzzles🗽

School officials claim they do not have to comply because Mystic Valley, based in Malden, doesn’t meet the definition of a “public school,” even though state law specifically describes charter schools as such. In any case, they say they won’t produce the records until a judge orders them to do so, notwithstanding the fact that the state public records law empowers the secretary of state to enforce the law.

The records, sought by Malden News Network, a local journalism outlet; Commonwealth Transparency, an advocacy group; and Malden mayoral candidate Lissette Alvarado cover a wide range of issues, including payroll, contracts, conflicts of interest, accountings of school income, copies of emails, and documents regarding Boston Globe stories about the school.

Now, to get back to that 2017 Muzzle Award from GBH News. During the 2016-’17 school year, Mystic Valley administrators began enforcing a dress-code prohibition against hair extensions, worn most often by Black female students. After parents complained about the clearly racist policy, school officials doubled down, leading to reporting by The Boston Globe and other news organizations. Yet the school refused to back down until then-Attorney General Maura Healey intervened.

That stiff-necked refusal to acknowledge its own wrongdoing obviously hasn’t changed over the years. When a judge finally orders the school to produce public documents, it will be interesting to see whether Mystic Valley complies — or if, instead, its administrators decide the judge somehow improperly claimed jurisdiction, or was wearing the wrong-colored robe or something.

If you want to read the full complaint, Adam’s posted it at the link above. The Boston Globe reports on Campbell’s lawsuit here. And Malden News Network has posted an item on its Facebook page.

The Mystic Valley Charter School is once again accused of discrimination

Note: I’ve blurred out the school staff member’s name

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School is back in the news and, as usual, it’s for all the wrong reasons. This time it’s for sending a Muslim female student home because she was wearing a hijab in violation of the school’s uniform policy, according to Lara Salahi of NBC Boston. The school admitted to it and said all the family needed to do was seek an accommodation ahead of time. But why should they have to ask permission to practice their religion?

In a message sent out on Aug. 19, School Supt. Alexander Dan claims that the brouhaha was the result of “one of the child’s older siblings posting misleading information about this issue on social media.” Yet the “School Uniform Compliance Form” is as clear as can be — the student was punished for wearing a hijab without permission, an obvious violation of her First Amendment right to freedom of religion. “Hijab” is misspelled “jihab,” which, as one Facebook wag noticed, manages to combine “hijab” with “jihad.”

Mystic Valley is a public charter school that receives tax money.

Dan’s message is remarkably self-pitying, as he goes on to cite — and link to an audio recording of — a threatening message received by a school staff member. The message, Dan writes, “contains extremely offensive, obscene language,” and Malden Police were notified. Obviously that shouldn’t have happened, but this is about the school’s ongoing racist practices rather than the reaction to those practices.

In 2017, I gave Mystic Valley a GBH News New England Muzzle Award for banning hair extensions, an action that disproportionately affected young Black women. Black students with long braids and dreads were taken to the office and inspected to see if they were wearing extensions. Punishment was meted out, including detention and suspension from activities such as athletics and the prom. That fiasco led to an investigation by Attorney General Maura Healey and a settlement in which the school promised to behave itself in the future. Just recently, Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law the CROWN Act, which bans discrimination on the basis of hair style and which was motivated in part by Mystic Valley’s actions.

In 2020, The Boston Globe’s Hayley Kaufman reported on concerns among alumni that the school was hampered by a “culture that penalized students who spoke out about inequities, while seeming to shrug off reports of bias.”

And now this. The time has come for the state to mete out some serious penalties.

By the way … sorry for the reproductions. I doubt you’ll be able to read them on a phone, but you should be able to read them on a laptop or tablet.

The Mystic Valley Charter School is back in the news for how it treats Black students

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School is back in the news for discriminatory behavior — this time for insensitive comments by a former trustee and flat-out racist remarks and disciplinary practices. The Boston Globe reports.

In 2017, we gave a WGBH News New England Muzzle Award to Mystic Valley for literally discriminating against Black hair.

You can tell a Mystic Valley administrator, but apparently you can’t tell them much.

Correction: My original post referred to comments by a trustee; he is in fact a former trustee who, until recently, remained involved in the school.

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