After failing to meet Annual Yearly Progress for six years, school has no choice.
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Colorado Springs School District 11 is asking for input from parents and community members about the future of Emerson-Edison Charter School.
The Middle School is in jeopardy of closing.
Officials said the Title I school has failed to meet their Annual Yearly Progress standards on CSAP scores for the past six years.
As a result, the school is being forced to restructure.
Emerson is an Edison Partnership School with District 11. It was chartered in 1996.
Wednesday night the district hosted the first of four community information meetings to discuss the school's future with parents.
"This school is a big part of the community, and we have great parents here, and my daughter's best friends are here," Jennifer Johnson said. "I do not want to see her have to leave this school."
Johnson is a parent at Emerson-Edison Junior Academy. Her daughter is in sixth grade.
She said her family is happy with the quality of education the school provides and added that the only thing she feels holds it back is the language barrier in the neighborhood.
Despite what Johnson feels, D-11 officials said the school has to restructure.
"Restructuring means we need to change how the school is led and how instruction is delivered. Those are the two biggest things we have to do," D-11 Charter School Liaison John Griego said.
Using a guide developed by the No Child Left Behind Act, the district has settled on three choices.
"The first would be to re-charter, or have a contract school come in provide a service much like what is going on now. The second is to have District 11 take it over in terms of the governance and maybe restructure it to be a focus kind of a school, and then thirdly is to close the school entirely," Griego said.
D-11 said they will not make a final decision until after all of the community meetings, which is why they are encouraging parents to come voice their thoughts and concerns.
"Overall this school has done great for my daughter and I want her to continue to go to school here," Johnson said.
There are three remaining community information meetings:
- Thursday, October 30th, 1-3 p.m.
- Thursday, November 6th, 6:30-8 p.m.
- Saturday, November 8th, 10 a.m.-Noon
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