A GROUP PROPOSING to open a charter school serving New Bedford and Fall River with a focus on “early college” programs has withdrawn the application, citing “political complexities” that the plan has faced. 

The decision came as state Education Commissioner Jeff Riley was preparing to announce this week whether he would recommend approval of the plan for the grade 6-12 school, which has faced blistering opposition from elected officials, teachers union activists, and community members in the two communities. 

The school was to be run by Meg Mayo-Brown, a former Fall River school superintendent who currently serves as superintendent of the Barnstable schools. In a region whose economy has been held back by low educational attainment, the Innovators Charter School planned to enroll all its 735 students in a “wall to wall” early college program that would have students take college-level courses while still in high school. The goal was for students to accumulate enough credits to receive a two-year associate’s degree when they graduate from high school.

“Over the past months and weeks, it has become increasingly clear that political complexities on the ground will make it very difficult for us to successfully launch our early college charter public school on the south coast at this time,” Mayo-Brown said in a letter to Riley withdrawing the application.

She seemed to leave the door open to resubmitting the plan in the future, telling Riley, “we need additional time to continue to share the vision for our proposed educational model in the community.” Mayo-Brown did not immediately return a message on Tuesday evening.

While proponents said the school would be a valuable bridge to higher education for many low-income students, critics cited the money it would divert from the two cities’ district schools, which already struggle to adequately fund programs. They also pointed to an early college initiative already underway in the Fall River school system and plans to launch such an effort at New Bedford High School.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell hailed word that the charter proposal was being pulled.

“We’re pleased that the Innovators Charter School withdrew its application, as we believed that the diversion of funds from our school district would have undermined the district’s progress,” Mitchell said in a statement. “I wish to thank Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan, state and municipal leaders, educators, parents, and community members for making their voices heard in the process. We remain committed to improving educational opportunity for all children in the region, and we believe that can best be accomplished when we work together.”

Opponents packed a New Bedford public hearing on the charter proposal in December. Meanwhile, a group dubbed the New Bedford Coalition to Save Our Schools ratcheted up the pressure by picketing a local bank whose president was slated to serve on the charter school board and calling on local business officials who offered letters of support for the school to withdraw their backing. 

Acrimony over the proposal reached the point in January that the CEO of BayCoast Bank, Nicholas Christ, announced he was stepping down from his position as vice chair of the  proposed charter school board. He said two other bank employees would also no longer serve on its board. 

In an op-ed in the New Bedford Standard-Times, Christ said there was broad agreement in the region that “expanding access to early college programs is vital toward advancing educational opportunities and positive outcomes for our young people.” He said, however, that “our involvement with the plan for Innovators Charter School has become a distraction to that consensus.” 

Jim Mathes, the former head of the New Bedford Chamber of Commerce, decried what he called the heavy-handed tactics of opponents, who not only picketed the bank but also showed up at the offices of a local attorney who submitted a letter of support for the school, pressing him to withdraw his backing. “Clearly the intent was intimidation – and it worked,” Mathes, who was slated to serve on the charter school board, said last week of the pressure on Christ to have BayCoast Bank pull away from the proposal.

Opponents of the charter school proposal called the protests the vigorous expression of the community’s strong feelings about the proposal. “Democracy gets loud,” said Ricardo Rosa, a New Bedford parent and director of the center for policy and practice at the Massachusetts Teachers Association.