Parents outraged to learn HISD closing charter school just before classes should start
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- With just days until school starts, hundreds of outraged parents are now scrambling to find a place to put their kids after a charter school is being closed by HISD.
The decision by the HISD board of trustees to close Kandy Stripe Academy blindsided parents and teachers at the school. The vote to close the school came on Thursday of last week, but some parents are only finding out about that now.
Parent Aletha Oliver said, "This is not fair for HISD to come and say we are going to close the school, bam! You got to go somewhere else and y'all accept that. No!"
Hundreds of parents are finding out now that the school their kids go to is going to close.
Kandy Stripe Academy parents say the first word of trouble came from an automated phone call from district over the last few days.
"I don't understand how you tell a school two weeks before school starts that they have go to somewhere else," said parent James Moss.
An HISD spokesperson referred us to the board of trustees meeting from last Thursday where the contract for Kandy Stripe Academy was not renewed.
Trustee Ann Sung listed several issues with the school but no further explanation was given. However, she also noted issues from the district's contract report with the school
"Kandy Stripe and Energize for Excellence had reading performances that were consistently trending lower and forecast to be lower than the district's over time," Sung said.
However the school accountability summary shows it met standards.
School officials did not speak to us on camera but say they did not know about the closing until after the board of trustees voted.
Parents are blaming the district, not school administrators.
Parent August Fleming said, "It is a shame how they did it. They want us to go to Bastion tomorrow, to register our kids in other schools. But they are not going to be charter schools, they are going to be regular school that is already overcrowded."
There is a meeting at 4 p.m. to talk to parents about what happened and a meeting Wednesday at nearby Bastian Elementary to enroll the children there.
Houston ISD issued the following statement: The Houston Independent School District Board of Education voted on Thursday to not renew the contract with Kandy Stripe Academy. We want to emphasize that every student will receive assistance to transition and register at their zoned school, or another HISD school with available space. Parents can contact the HISD Parent and Community Assistance Office at (713) 556-7121 if they have any questions.
