The school board unanimously approved the Boston Teacher Residency’s proposal with no discussion, but members Michael O’Neill and Claudio Martinez expressed hesitation about Unlocking Potential’s proposal.
“They don’t quite have a track record yet,’’ O’Neill said.
The proposal would be Unlocking Potential’s second partnership with the district. This month, the organization took over the Gavin Middle School in South Boston - at Superintendent Carol R. Johnson’s request - and converted it into UP Academy, an in-district charter school.
Johnson, who recommended the second partnership, told the members they were raising a legitimate issue.
In the end, the proposal received unanimous preliminary approval.
Both proposals will go to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for preliminary review. If the department likes the plans, the School Committee would then vote on a final application, which would also require state approval.
In an interview, Scott Given, Unlocking Potential’s chief executive, said his organization has the capacity, both financially and in human capital, to take on a second school.
“It’s going to be hard work,’’ said Given. “It will take a significant effort, but we wouldn’t be moving forward if we didn’t think we could complete the work at a high level of quality.’’
Johnson pitched the two in-district charter schools as part of a broader plan to provide better opportunities for students across the district.
A key part of that proposal calls for expanding several popular schools. It would move Boston Latin Academy from Dorchester to the former Hyde Park High School building. Boston Latin Academy’s building would then be renovated and house Boston Arts Academy, which now shares a building with Fenway High School. Splitting the two schools would allow both to enroll more students.
The proposal also calls for finding a larger building for the popular Eliot K-8 School, which is experiencing a shortage of space in the North End. To alleviate some crowding in the interim, Johnson is proposing to temporarily locate three classrooms in the nearby North Bennet Street School, a private trade school.
