Loud hissing and then booing broke out in a Brockton school cafeteria during a town hall-style forum on Tuesday when the state's public education commissioner mentioned the charter school he recommended for approval in the city this year.

“You can decide whether we judged erroneously or not,” Mitchell Chester said. “You can decide that the demand is not there. The facts belie that.”

BROCKTON – Loud hissing and then booing broke out in a Brockton High School cafeteria during a town hall-style forum on Tuesday when the state’s public education commissioner started talking about charter schools, with the uproar only intensifying after he mentioned the name of one that he recommended to open in the city this year.

One of the problems with the new Brockton charter school that Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester avoided mentioning is that the school did not open in Brockton. It also didn’t open on the schedule it planned. After renovation delays reported at one site in Brockton and a problem obtaining proper permits for construction at a second location in the city, the New Heights Charter School opened 22 miles away in Norwood after gaining Chester's permission less than a week before the first day of class. Before that, Chester's department approved a shortened school year to help the new charter school get off the ground.

Instead of acknowledging those problems with the readiness of the New Heights Charter School to open, Chester seemed to suggest the exact opposite for his reasons to recommend the Brockton charter school’s approval in mid-February earlier this year.

“We have very strict criteria for judging whether an applicant or an application is ready to start a charter school,” said Chester, noting that New Heights failed to gain state approval during two previous attempts. “The New Heights Charter School submitted two years of applications and was rejected because we didn’t think they were ready to start a charter school.”

That’s when some members of the crowd let him have it, heckling, hissing and booing.

“They still aren’t,” one man shouted, responding to the assertion that New Heights was ready to start a charter school. “They’re in Norwood.”

Chester was speaking in the cafeteria as part of an event to kick-off the school year, which also served as a rally for the Brockton Kids Count campaign, launched by the school district in March to call on the state to provide more adequate funding for public education in the city.

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After raising his arms with his palms facing out in an attempt to calm the crowd, Chester continued, stating that New Heights Charter School displayed the “wherewithal to get up and running.” The charter school said previously that it receives private donations raised by the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association and the Norton-based nonprofit Resiliency Foundation, which has long been run by the administrators of the New Heights Charter School.

Chester said that, along with its readiness to start a charter school, New Heights was approved because there was a clear demand for the particular charter school proposal, adding that the charter school’s partnership with Massasoit Community College was also paid strong consideration. Chester said that the charter school didn't receive approval because Brockton Public Schools are doing poorly.

Chester said there are 300 students attending New Heights Charter School, with more than 200 on a waiting list. The charter school’s plan was to open with a first year enrollment of 315. But on the first day of class, the school’s attendance, according to Chester's department, was 272. As of Monday this week, there was 297 in attendance at the charter school in Norwood, said Jacqueline Reis, a spokesperson for the department.

“You can decide whether we judged erroneously or not,” Chester said. “You can decide that the demand is not there. The facts belie that.”

If New Heights reaches an enrollment of 315 students by October, it will receive $3.96 million in state and local funds, based on early projections, Reis said.

Brockton parents like Dominique Cassamajor said that money would be better spent on Brockton Public Schools, including the elementary school attended by her 9-year-old daughter, especially when the district is already dealing with a difficult budget.

“I don’t like it at all,” Cassamajor said. “I know people who have kids in the new school, but it’s just taking away funds from Brockton Public Schools. Everybody has their choices. But to me, it’s taking away money from most of the kids. The classroom already has a deficit. That’s why we are doing the Brockton Kids Count campaign.”

Cassamajor said she was not among the teachers and parents in the packed crowd that booed and hissed at Chester.

“I think it was inappropriate,” the Brockton mom said. “I do understand why. But you have to do it in a respectful manner.”

A large contingent from the campaign against Question 2, the statewide ballot vote on whether to increase the cap on Massachusetts charter schools, attended the meeting, including the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. The commissioner was pressed about a $100,000 donation given by the chairman of the state education board, Paul Sagan, to the political group that is promoting that ballot initiative. But Chester defended Sagan, complaining that similar scrutiny is not being applied to those on his board who want to defeat Question 2. There were very few pro-charter school advocates in attendance making their presence known.

“We think Brockton Public Schools need more resources to make it stronger,” said Barbara Madeloni, president of the state teacher’s association. “We don’t need to be losing money to charter schools. It’s really clear. The pro-charter proponents put a target on Brockton’s back for years now. Unfortunately, our commissioner refused to listen to the people of Brockton, including the educators and the parents, and has decided that’s he’s going to listen to the special interests.”