Following the presentation of a plan by Wyatt Academy’s principal to keep the school open, the Denver charter school’s board of directors rejected a proposal Tuesday to close it.
Five of Wyattap nine board members voted to close the school, and four voted to keep it open. Although a majority voted for closure, the proposal needed a 60% approval rate to pass, board President Katie Brown said during the early-morning meeting. As such, the proposal failed.
Brown quickly adjourned the meeting without discussing the next steps for Wyatt. In a statement released a few hours later, she implied the school would stay open.
After the meeting Tuesday, Brown and the four other board members who voted to close Wyatt resigned from the board, a spokesperson confirmed.
Wyatt Academy is one of Denver’s oldest charter schools. Opened in 1998, it now serves just over 200 students in kindergarten through fifth grade in northeast Denver.
Late last month, the Wyatt board took a different vote that signaled Wyatt would likely close at the end of this school year. Citing years of low enrollment at Wyatt and a decrease in per-pupil funding, the board voted to partner that runs two elementary schools in the same part of the city.
said U Prep would get whatever money remained in Wyattap bank account when the school closed. Wyatt would get a commitment that U Prep would consider continuing some of the community services Wyatt provides, including a food pantry, free clothing boutique, and laundromat.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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