Local charter school with budget trouble closes today (only open a few months, not making enough $$)

Local charter school with budget trouble closes today

A Columbus charter school that has been open only a few months will close its doors for good today. It simply can't afford to stay open any longer.

Nearly 90 students who attended the Columbus Academy of Literacy and Mathematics must find new schools to finish out the year.

The school, known as CALM, opened last fall in a wing of a North Side church. At its peak, the elementary school had 109 students - not enough to support its operation, said its sponsor. Most of the students live within Columbus City Schools boundaries.

...

Charter schools need about 120 students to afford a principal, intervention specialists or special-education workers, and teachers for each grade, Hanes said.

Like traditional public schools, charters are paid state money on a per-student basis. But they can't collect local taxes and do not receive money for buildings. The academy was housed in the New Covenant Believers' Church.


http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/02/18/local-charter-school-with-budget-trouble-closes-today.html?sid=101