Erie (Pa.) board decides charter school must close
The Erie (Pa.) school board has voted to force closure of the Erie Rise Leadership Academy Charter School because of poor academic performance.
The Erie Times-News reports that the decision to shutter the school comes two years about the board reluctantly agreed to extend the school's charter.
The board acted in response to Erie Rise's poor test scores and its failure to achieve academic benchmarks in an improvement negotiated with the Erie School District.
The board invoked a "surrender clause" in the improvement plan — a clause that mandates the school must close by June 30, the end of the academic year.
The surrender clause requires Erie Rise to forfeit its charter automatically, and "without protest" or recourse to the courts, if the school fails to meet the benchmarks in the improvement plan.
Erie Rise opened in 2011 and enrolls students in kindergarten through eighth grade at the former Emerson School. For its first six years was housed at the former Sacred Heart School.
The charter school had 436 students when the Erie School Board renewed its charter in November 2019. It now has 150 fewer students.
