The D.C. charter school board voted Tuesday night to move forward in closing Nia Community and Ideal Academy, charters that have not following the academic programs they proposed, the board said.
The Washington Examiner first reported Tuesday that the board is considering closing Nia and Ideal. Following the vote to pursue the revocations, the board will hold final votes in the weeks ahead.
Board members said Nia’s charter is on the chopping block because it failed to design and implement the educational program it described in its application, and failed to meet student achievement goals.
Nia also has not complied with federal requirements for educating special-education students, and did not submit an annual report in compliance with the School Reform Act.
Ideal also failed to design and implement its proposed educational program, and test scores have been low. When a board member asked if the scores were improving, staff answered that they’d dropped from low to lower.
Board members also pointed out that Ideal hasn’t appropriately served its special education and English language-learner populations and has a high level of debt. Ideal will lose its high school campus on June 30, which the board said threatened its viability.
Both Nia and Ideal have 15 days to request a public hearing before the board’s final vote. A charter going through the process has never remained open, spokeswoman Audrey Williams told The Washington Examiner.
