Detroit charter school closes just two weeks before first day of class

Just two weeks before the first day of class, a charter school on Detroit’s west side notified parents and students today that the high school has closed.

Officials for University YES Academy held an impromptu meeting today to tell high school students they needed to find another school to attend. Only parents and students were allowed in the meeting, and they were barred from using recording devices.

“What are our kids supposed to do?” a parent told Metro Times reporter Allie Gross. “Another black school closed down. More black kids cannot be educated.”

Parents walking out of UYA mtg after finding out new charter mgmt co is closing the HS weeks before new school year. pic.twitter.com/bgYPfHYGCw

— Allie Gross (@Allie_Elisabeth) August 22, 2016

The school’s management company, New Paradigm, handed parents and students a list of six other schools, including one of the company’s own schools, Detroit Edison Public School Academy, Gross reported from outside the meeting. 

Students criticized New Paradigm for waiting until the last minute to announce the school’s closure.

“They call about everything else, but they don’t think to call about closing the school,” a student told Gross. 

The University YES Academy, at 14669 Curtis St., will continue to teach K-8.

After the meeting, three bodyguards tried to prevent Gross from interviewing the head of New Paradigm, Ralph Bland, who declined to comment. 

The academy came under fire in 2015 for taking extraordinary measures to prevent teachers from unionizing.

New Paradigm didn’t return our calls for comment.

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  charter schools, DPS, High School, new paradigm, private sector, university yes academy

Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.

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