And then there were two.
With only two teachers remaining, KIPP Harbor Academy in Edgewater will close following Principal Jallon Brown?s resignation Wednesday, said Steve Mancini, a KIPP program spokesman.
“Jallon was like a coach without any players to put on the field,” he said.
The charter school lost 10 of its 12 teachers after the June 20 announcement that it was closing, Mancini said.
“Without teachers dedicated to the mission of KIPP, we will not be able to continue to offer a high-quality educational program and prepare your students for college,” Brown said in her resignation letter to parents.
“This has been a difficult process for everyone involved, and we have done everything possible to keep our school open as a KIPP school.”
The Harbor Academy is one of about 50 Knowledge is Power Program schools serving low-income communities nationwide, according to the KIPP Web site.
The school?s board of directors could keep the charter school open without any affiliation to the KIPP program, but that?s unrealistic with only two teachers and no principal, Mancini said.
The original decision to close came after a fruitless two-year search for more space to teach the school?s 120 fifth- and sixth-graders and an expected addition of an 80-student seventh grade.
Then in a push to stay open, the board of directors held a June 27 meeting where Schools Superintendent Kevin Maxwell proposed portable classrooms to serve the school?s need for more space.
“But they didn?t even have bathrooms,” Mancini said.
Funding for the school is provided through “per-pupil expenditures,” based on the amount of money the school system spends per student.
“Now that the school has closed, the money will stay in the charter school fund, and the county will see what happens,” said Bob Mosier, school system spokesman.
