St. Louis may open new schools to replace charters that are closing

From The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Up to six public schools could open this fall in St. Louis to absorb up to 3,800 children now attending the Imagine charter schools slated to close next month. Superintendent Kelvin Adams says the number of additional schools needed this August will be determined by demand, and the extent of that demand may not be fully determined until later this summer.

Earlier... From The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Leaders of Imagine Schools in St. Louis are making a last-ditch bid to keep their beleaguered campuses open — but without any involvement from the for-profit corporation that brought the network of charter schools to the city. The board president of one of the six schools, Reynaldo Anderson, says Imagine Schools will play no part in the board's uphill battle to find a new sponsor for the schools. The campuses are likely to close after the state board of education yanked their authority to remain open beyond June 30. APRIL 2012...From The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Missouri Board of Education has voted to close all six Imagine charter schools in St. Louis. The move likely means more than 3,500 students in the city will be looking for new schools before fall. The move follows months of increasing scrutiny of the schools' financial, leadership and academic problems. The schools are operated by Imagine Schools Inc., a for-profit charter school management company. Students enrolled at the schools make up about one-third of the charter school population in St. Louis. State test results from 2011 showed that nearly all students at the city's Imagine schools were performing below grade level in reading and math.