Due to a budget shortfall, a charter school that has been operating in Garden City since the fall of 2006 will close its doors on Friday, school officials said.
... The State Board of Education on Thursday accepted the voluntary relinquishment of the operating charter that allowed the STEAM Academy of Winston-Salem to operate.The Winston-Salem school has seen its enrollment plunge by more than 70 percent over the last seven years while the school's debts skyrocketed. Its operators are voluntarily giving up the charter.Last month, it was reported that the school's general fund was more than $700,000 in debt. Reports from as far back as April 2011 show the school was in financial trouble.
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – With May 23 the final day of school in Fulton County, it appears probable a decision on the future of the Fulton Science Academy High School will come just days before that date, putting in flux the academic plans for hundreds of high school students.
Sure, most kids love video games, but you don't see many schools encouraging them, much less buying them for students.But that's just what a charter school in Manatee County is doing. Over the last two years, enrollment at the Manatee School of Arts and Sciences has dropped by nearly 40 percent.So six weeks into the new school year, they ran an ad in the Bradenton Herald, offering what some call a bribe -- switch schools by Thursday and get a free Nintendo DS, one of the most popular gaming devices for kids...
STOCKTON - With enrollment less than one-third of what was expected, a charter high school that opened only last week in temporary space at Sherwood Mall will shut its doors for the final time Friday after a 10-day run.The imminent closing of troubled Velocity International Science and Technology Academy leaves about 70 students looking for new schools and six teachers looking for new jobs as September reaches its late stages...
Parents, students and teachers are unexpectedly scrambling to find a new school.
The abrupt end was punctuated by locked doors and silence at one school, and with a chaotic gathering of parents and students at another.But the story at three Broward charter schools was essentially the same on Friday: financial problems had led to closure, leaving parents and students to unexpectedly scramble to find a new place to enroll.
Parents, students and teachers are unexpectedly scrambling to find a new school.The abrupt end was punctuated by locked doors and silence at one school, and with a chaotic gathering of parents and students at another.But the story at three Broward charter schools was essentially the same on Friday: financial problems had led to closure, leaving parents and students to unexpectedly scramble to find a new place to enroll.“We should have had way more time to look for other schools for our kids,” said Nicole Williams, whose son Alfonso was a 10th-grader at Eagle Charter Academy in Lauderdale Lakes, one of the three schools now closed. Also closing this week were the nearby SMART Charter School (run by the same company as Eagle Charter), and Touchdowns4life Charter School in Tamarac, which was founded by former Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby.
SAN BERNARDINO - More than 100 students who had been attending a charter school for at-risk children stayed home Wednesday, and they won't be going to Crown Ridge Academy ever again.Neither will the school's teachers, all of whom the charter school director says are owed months of pay without a clear path to collect that money.The board of the San Bernardino City Unified School District, which allowed the school to open in 2009, revoked the charter Tuesday night after determining that there was no realistic way for the school to dig itself out of a deep financial hole...
Parents, students and teachers are unexpectedly scrambling to find a new school.The abrupt end was punctuated by locked doors and silence at one school, and with a chaotic gathering of parents and students at another.But the story at three Broward charter schools was essentially the same on Friday: financial problems had led to closure, leaving parents and students to unexpectedly scramble to find a new place to enroll.
One of Jacksonville’s oldest charter schools faces potential closure because of chronic problems including failure to meet state and federal student academic proficiency standards.
School of Success Academy Charter Middle School is also about $40,759 in the red this year – continuing an annual deficit trend that began in the 2007-08 term. And its five-year lease with the city for the school’s property ended nine months ago. It is now renting it on a month-to-month basis...
The academy has received a school grade of “D” each school year since 2008-09. Its charter contract requires at least a “C” grade or better.
Duval County schools Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals has recommended to the School Board that the district not renew the academy’s charter contract. In his recommendation, Pratt-Dannals details a series of deficiencies consistently found by district officials during regular site visits over the past five years, with the most recent visit in February...
Saying the school provides a quality education, [Genell M. Mills, academy principal and director] noted it already corrected many of the issues — including nepotism, sloppy bookkeeping and accounting practices, and fingerprinting and criminal background checks on employees — that district officials cited as deficiencies...
Approved in May 1997, the academy at 6974 Wilson Blvd. was one of the original three charter schools that opened in Duval County. It has an enrollment cap of 500 students, but has enrolled fewer than 300 annually over the past four years. The academy’s contract expires June 30, and it wants a 10-year renewal...
When the district receives the academy’s appeal notice, the School Board will decide whether to hear the matter itself or refer it to the state Division of Administrative Hearings. Either way, the district will have 60 days to act on the academy’s request for a hearing, said Karen Chastain, the school district’s lawyer.
Students from General John Vessey Jr. Leadership Academy are hunting for new schools after their 8-year-old charter high school abruptly closed over Christmas break after running out of money.
The mood was glum at the small West St. Paul school Tuesday, what should have been the first day back, as students hugged and said goodbye. It was their last chance to collect belongings before trying to find a new place to attend classes and finish out the school year.
"It sucks," said Mara Jafar of Richfield, who helped her son Cody clean out his locker Tuesday. "It is not exactly an easy transition in the middle of freshman year."...
School officials cited a combination of factors that forced the closure. Leadership and staffing turnover caused enrollment to fall from more than 100 students in 2007 to about 50 this school year...
Vessey had a small niche. It was known for its Junior ROTC program that primarily served students who didn't fit into a traditional school setting because of behavioral or other issues, said Mary Bright, Vessey executive director...
In 2000, the East End Community Heritage School, a charter school, opened with 186 students and a promise to better educate children with Appalachian roots and keep them in school to graduation.
In fact, its contract said 85 percent of students would pass Ohio proficiency tests within three years, a rate to rival top suburban schools...
Three years later, it was in Academic Emergency. Its achievement was so low by 2006 that CPS dropped out as sponsor. By 2010 - with 99 students - it was put on a "watch list" by the state.
Last week, the state named it one of 15 charter schools that must raise its scores or close by 2013.
How could such poor performance go on for so long?
Incredibly, the school may have survived because of its lack of success.
The state says charters must close if they've been in academic emergency for at least two of the three most recent years. But if schools have fewer than 10 students in a grade, the state doesn't include their composite scores on the state report card - or give the school a ranking.
That's what happened to EECHS in 2009 and 2010.
Even though it was in Academic Emergency in 2007 and 2008, the school managed to stay open apparently because it drew so few children, despite more than a decade of poor results...
The most expensive part is that for 11 years taxpayers have poured money into a school that performed worse than the public schools it was created to help "reform." Every other CPS school in Bond Hill, where the school relocated in 2006, has a higher state ranking.
Meanwhile, the school at one point was more than $300,000 in debt, which it has whittled down to $80,000 now...
In 2009, as EECHS hit other milestones of having the lowest percentage of highly qualified teachers in the region and a 10 percent graduation rate, an Ohio Department of Education spokesman assured taxpayers, "We're not going to continue pumping money into failing charters. If we can see the writing on the wall ... (we try) to stop the bleeding and give those students an option of going somewhere else."
But EECHS bled on...
But EECHS's story is not over, and it would be an oversight not to point out that the school - finally - might face its best chance for success.
Former CPS superintendent Michael Brandt, hired by the school's board of directors as a consultant, is overseeing a major overhaul of the curriculum, staff and daily operations at the school and has brought in former Hillcrest Training School Superintendent William Hamilton as principal.
They've replaced more than half the staff, increased the school day to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., introduced a new college-readiness curriculum, and won a $360,000 state improvement grant and $61,000 Race to the Top federal grant for improvement.
The turnaround would be good news, but 11 years overdue...
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Brand-new textbooks sit stacked on desks in the brightly lit classrooms at LaMensa Academy Next Generation Charter School. Most have never been opened. And most of the small blue and red chairs have never been occupied by students.
The new Palm Beach Gardens charter school's enrollment has fallen well below its expected 100 students this fall. As of Wednesday, it had only 13 children registered.
Now LaMensa's founder and administrators are scrambling to boost enrollment by Friday, when the state will do a student count to determine how much money each school or district will receive.
If LaMensa doesn't reach that goal, the school must come up with a plan to avoid being closed.
"We're looking to get to at least 100 in a week," said Pamela Patterson, its principal. "That's a pretty big goal, but that doesn't mean it can't be accomplished."
Enrollment is already up from the first few weeks of school, when LaMensa's student body stood at five. The school urged their parents to talk to people about the K-3 charter and persuade them to enroll their children...
"We're letting people know there's another school, another option out there," Patterson said. " I believe in miracles."
The Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School failed to recruit enough students to meet its enrollment goal for the second straight year, resulting in layoffs of several people this week.
The school is also without a leader. Its principal, Dawna Thornton, announced this week she is leaving for another job.
The layoffs were a result of budget problems caused by the Wilmington charter school's inability to reach an enrollment of 300 students, said Dan Cruce, state deputy secretary of education. The missed enrollment cost the school an estimated $830,000 in funding, Cruce said...
A week ago, a school resource officer arrested a teacher and three students, leading to a dispute between police and the school about what transpired. Cruce said the school told the state Department of Education that the principal's resignation this week was not related to that incident.
The positions cut through layoffs included an assistant principal, two other administrators and three clerical workers, said Ed Fredie, a vice president at K12 Inc., the company running Moyer [2011-2012 is K12's second year as the school's manager]. Two of the six resigned prior to being laid off, he said. The principal resigned formally Tuesday. A lab coordinator resigned a few weeks ago...
...Moyer also failed to meet its enrollment goals last school year, and test scores remain among the worst in the state. A tiny fraction of students were able to meet test score goals in math and reading on last year's academic tests.
Low enrollment, a new computer-based school model and low test scores are concerns for Wilmington City Councilman Mike Brown, who said Gov. Jack Markell's administration made a mistake when it picked K12 Inc., a Virginia-based for-profit education company, to run the school after the state Board of Education voted to revoke a local group's control...
Moyer, which opened in 2006, serves students in grades six through 12.
Maurice J. Moyer Moyer Academy Charter School will be open for students this fall under new management. The Delaware Department of Education terminated the school's charter in February after finding the school deficient in several areas including student performance, curriculum and highly qualified teachers.
This fall, the school will be run by the educational corporation K12, under the auspices of the Delaware Department of Education. State Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery says after seeing the community support for the school, state leaders had special legislation passed to allow the Dept. of Ed. to supervise the school while applications for the charter are being evaluated. "We were so moved by the sentiment of the community when they learned that the current charter was being non-renewed. Nobody wanted an empty building sitting here," Lowery said.
The director and co-founder of the Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School says he'll go to court to fight the Delaware Department of Education's decision not to renew the school's charter.
"We gotta sue,"Theopalis Gregory, director of Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School, said...
So, the charter school that just opened its doors on 17th Street in Wilmington in 2006 will have to shut down after this school year. It currently serves 484 students in grades 6-12. Gregory says the school, which was approved for enrollment for up to 530 students, has a list of 75-100 students interested in attending Moyer.
(Dover, DE.) The State Board of Education has voted not to renew the charter of the Maurice J. Moyer Academy Charter School. Following the recommendation from Secretary of Education Lillian M. Lowery based on the recommendations of the Charter School Accountability Committee (CSAC), the State Board voted unanimously to terminate the charter at the end of this school year.
Located on 17th Street in Wilmington, Moyer Academy first opened in September, 2006 with an approved enrollment of 300 students in grades 6, 7 and 9. In its fourth year, Moyer currently serves 484 students in grades 6-12 with an approved enrollment of 530 students.
In October, 2009, Moyer submitted a five-year renewal application which is required by law for each charter school. In the renewal application, a charter school must demonstrate compliance in 14 criteria in order to have their charter considered for renewal.
In November, the CSAC met with Moyer Academy representatives to discuss the renewal process. The following month, in December, 2009, the CSAC met to draft a preliminary report on Moyer's renewal application. In the preliminary report, all 14 criteria were analyzed; the CSAC identified numerous deficient areas including, but not limited to, Student Performance, Curriculum, and Highly Qualified Teachers.
Based on these findings, the CSAC recommended that the charter not be renewed. Moyer Academy was then given time to comment on the findings in the Preliminary Report.
The CSAC met again on January 5, 2010 to draft a final report after taking into consideration the responses from Moyer representatives. Following review of that information, the CSAC's final recommendation remained that of non-renewal.
On January 25, 2010, a public hearing was held at the Townsend Building in Dover to receive comment regarding the renewal application and the recommendation from the CSAC. Approximately 30 people representing both Moyer Academy and the community spoke at the hearing.
Today, on the recommendation of the Secretary of Education, the State Board voted not to renew Moyer Academy's charter. The Academy will continue to provide its current instructional program as specified in the school's charter. It must also administer the Delaware Student Testing Program in accordance with regulations and policies. The Department of Education will work with the Moyer Academy administration to ensure an orderly transition of student records, equipment and other resources.
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA - The California College, Career and Technical Education Center has shutdown in West Sacramento leaving teachers and students and staff scrambling to find somewhere else to go.Some parents apparently found out about the charter school's unexpected closure when they arrived for an orientation meeting Thursday and found the school's doors locked...
UPLAND - The large banner and signs outside Mercury Online Academy's learning facility says it's still enrolling students, but that's far from the case.Due to a lack of enrollment, the free K-6 charter school closed its doors Friday, one week into its school year.
WAITE PARK — A public charter school that has served alternative students in the area since 2000 will not reopen next school year...
The school closed after Novation Education Opportunities decided not to continue as the school’s authorizer, said Matthew Pennertz, who has served as the school’s director since March...
The school has struggled financially, and an effort to recruit students earlier this year was unsuccessful...
Novation Education Opportunities, which is based in Minneapolis and became GREC’s authorizer this year, has oversight of about 11 charter schools, the organization’s website said. Novation provided Great River with an improvement plan that was not met, Pennertz said...
Natalia Martinez went to a school board meeting Thursday, hoping to hear that the financially beset Palm Bay Community Charter School will be welcoming her kindergarten-age daughter this fall.
Instead, Martinez and more than 100 other parents, students and faculty left disappointed and uncertain, but still determined. The Brevard County School Board voted 5-0 to send a 90-day notice of termination to the K-10 school, which has not made payments on its $21 million bond debt since January 2009...
Since 2008, shortfalls caused by enrollment have plagued the school, which never met initial projections of about 1,060 students. The school ended the 2010-11 year with 777 students. From yearly revenue, about $6,468 per child last year, the school hoped to pay operational costs and make bond payments. Low enrollment meant the school couldn't cover both, and a recent audit declared the school in a state of financial emergency...
For weeks, the primary issue has been who is listed as "borrower." Under the original bonds, that was Patriot Charter School LLC, a company related to Charter Schools USA -- the company that built and initially operated the charter school. The school is now operated and managed by Academica...
Timeline
The city's 5-year-old charter school was built in 2006 with $21 million in bond money. No payments have been made on the bond debt since January 2009. That puts the debt in default, though bondholders worked in the past with the K-10 school to put off payments until the school could meet its obligations.
Under the original bonds, the borrower was Patriot Charter School LLC, a company related to Charter USA -- the company that built and initially operated the charter school.
Since 2008, the school has faced shortfalls stemming from enrollment that at best, has reached just three-quarters of its initial goal of 1,063 students. From yearly revenue -- about $6,468 per child last year and expected to drop to $6,045 for the coming year -- the school hoped to pay operational costs and make payments on its bonds.
Superintendent Brian Binggeli prepared a letter to Palm Bay Mayor John Mazziotti and City Manager Sue Hann, dated June 30, stating the charter will be terminated in 90 days, after the school year begins. Board members, who voted 5-0 to send the letter, said Thursday the notice gives the school 90 days to correct deficiencies. Palm Bay council members, who serve as the school's governing board, recently voted 5-0 to not contest or appeal a termination.
State officials scrambled Friday to salvage the rest of the school year for students at a small Hartford charter school that will close its doors Monday because it has run out of money.
Officials of the Cross-Cultural Academy of Arts & Technology, an experimental school that opened last fall, told parents this week the school could no longer afford to pay its teachers and would be closing with six weeks left in the regular school year…
The Cross-Cultural Academy -- an arts-oriented program that relied on collaborations with local and regional museums, theaters and other institutions -- ran into budget problems related to busing, special education, rent and other costs, said Augustine Cofrancesco, one of the school's founders.
``For eight or nine months we made a difference,'' Cofrancesco said, ``but financially it was just too much for us. ... The needs of our students were such that we had to have small class sizes and had to have aides,'' Cofrancesco said. That, however, also strained the budget.
``We were trying to run a Cadillac program on what it costs to run a Ford,'' he said.
In addition, the school, which gets a per-pupil grant from the state, could not enroll enough students to support itself. The school had hoped for as many as 100 students but opened with only about half that number. By this week, it had only 35 students…
