The state Board of Education voted to close Delaware MET Charter School next month - just four months after it opened.
It took roughly an hour of deliberation, with board member Greg Coverdale casting the lone ‘no’ vote.
Despite having two years to prepare for their first day of school, Coverdale says there hasn’t been enough time to properly assess how well the school is performing.
“I think four months is a very short time period to make a decision like that that will drastically affect the lives of some of these students," he said.
The school has been plagued with problems after opening its doors this fall, which Education Secretary Steven Godowsky says amounted to “serious concern.” Students weren’t meeting academic benchmarks and showed several disciplinary problems.
The school board’s chairman Nash Childs went on medical leave and school leader Tricia Hunter Crafton took maternity leave at the same time.
Board member Patrick Heffernan says it’s “sad that there’s no good solution for this.”
“It’s a tough decision for those kids to leave in the middle of the year or to stay in a school that some are saying unsafe or they’re non-compliant with federal law for individual education plans. I mean, they weren’t holding to their charter,” Heffernan said.
All students will be able to return to their regular feeder pattern school or apply to a different one.
Delaware MET will close Jan. 22.
