Committee votes to end the Apprenticeship Exploration School's charter

What happened

On April 13, 2026 the school committee voted unanimously to dissolve the charter of the Apprenticeship Exploration School, the district's small trades-focused high school, effective July 1, 2026, and to ask the Rhode Island Department of Education to terminate it. A charter is the state agreement that lets a school run with its own board and rules. The superintendent had told the committee in March that the district was still calculating the staffing and operating savings and hoped the change would help its finances.

Why it matters to families

Ending the charter moves the school's students and staff under ordinary district rules rather than its separate charter agreement. For families at the school it can change scheduling, staffing and how the program is governed, and it comes while the building itself is being renovated on a reduced budget.

The evidence

The approved April 13, 2026 minutes record Resolution 26-04-05 approving the voluntary dissolution of the school's charter effective July 1, 2026 and authorizing a termination request to the state, adopted on a unanimous roll call.

The source