Reach Academy for Girls charter school in New Castle will close at the end of this academic year.
Education Secretary Mark Murphy announced at Tuesday’s the State Board of Education’s meeting that the state is not renewing the New Castle all-girls school's charter.
Murphy agreed with the Delaware Department of Education's Charter School Accountability Committee recommendation last week that the all-girls school should not have its charter renewal due to serious academic issues.
"Reach Academy is at the bottom of all district schools and all charter schools for the entire state," Murphy said. " In current performance and growth, it is far below expectations we have for our students."
State Board of Education president Dr. Teri Quinn Gray said there were too many problems to renew the school for another five years.
"This is not easy and it is not comforting," said Gray. "It is for the best interest of students."
Reach Academy School Leader Tara Allen said she had hoped the school would have been put on probation for its academic performance and given resources to turn student growth around. But Gray says that Reach officials did not show enough movement on the academic issue to get a reprieve
“I think that was the key piece that we did not see those ongoing turnaround initiatives in place and going," said Gray. "It seemed to be a very reactive response and a bit not enough and too late.”
Monday, Jea P. Street, New Castle County Councilman and chair of Delaware's NAACP education committee sent a letter to Gov. Jack Markell (D-Delaware) saying that the DDOE's targeting of Reach Academy was discriminatory and segregative .
Gray said that was not the case at all and the board's only commitment is to insure the girls of Reach Academy a successful education.
Murphy said immediately following the board meeting, the DOE will release a phone number and email address Reach parents can use to find out more information surrounding the closing and how to place students elsewhere when Reach closes at the end of the academic year.
On Reach's website, school officials have announced a meeting at the school for parents at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Reach Academy opened in August 2010. It was authorized to serve 475 students in grades kindergarten to 8 and currently has 468 students. Its charter was placed on probation in 2011 because of financial and governance issues, but met conditions of that probation and had it lifted earlier this year.