A judge has declined to stop a new charter school from opening in Woonsocket. City officials sought an injunction to block RISE Prep, a special type of charter school called a Mayoral Academy. They argued it would take taxpayer money away from local schools. Rhode Island Mayoral Academies Spokeswoman Katelyn Silva disagrees.

“If there are small areas where we can tweak the funding formula to feel more equitable on all sides we are behind that 100 percent,” said Silva. “Until then, I do think that money follows the child is the fairest way to fund public education.”

RISE Prep has enrolled 50 Kindergartners from Woonsocket, Burrillville and North Smithfield. Silva said uncertainty about whether the school would be allowed to open next week has been stressful for those families.

“We hear from families all the time, we’ve been driving by the school and our child is just getting really excited about being a part of that,” said Silva. “They’ve been doing summer reading and working together with Ms. Murphy, the head of school.”

The RISE Prep Academy plans to eventually serve more than 700 elementary and middle school students.

It will be the third mayoral academy to open in Rhode Island, joining the Blackstone Valley Prep schools in Cumberland and the Achievement First network in Providence.

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