Some Parents Struggling After Aurora Community School Charter Revoked
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- Some parents are dismayed at the possibility that their children's' school may close. Aurora Public School's Board of Education voted to revoke the charter for Aurora Community School.
"I was picking my kid up from school, and he was telling me everything that he learned he was so excited to learn," said parent Jennifer Johnson-Lowe.
Johnson-Lowe is just one of the parents at Aurora Community School who is now scrambling to find a new place for her 1st grader. She says her child had been struggling until he came to the school.
"It's like they had these amazing events to just get to know everyone on staff, get to know his teacher, and just made us feel like a community and a family right away," said Johnson-Lowe.
Nearly 300 students are impacted by the charter being revoked.
Aurora Public Schools gave two reasons for revoking the charter: the school did not occupy its permanent facility on 6th Avenue by June 1 and because the school did not adhere to a 2-year budget that was submitted in October 2019. In particular, APS requested confirmation of $187,500 payment to the landlord but there was no response from Aurora Community School.
"This has been an incredibly difficult year, you know, it's like the pandemic, trying to get this building and trying to lift this huge project off," said Johnson-Lowe.
Aurora Community School co-principal Meredith Stolte has pleaded for school board members not to revoke the charter, pointing out health concerns and construction delays in a new permanent building. In the meantime, parents like Johnson-Lowe say the diverse staff and before and after school programs will be sorely missed.
"We need this, we need this in this community."