IN THE NEWS

Things are not going well for a church affiliated charter school that partially opened this school year.  The promise was an enrollment of 114 kids, however only 67 have showed up and already the CEO is discussing staff cuts just two weeks into the first school year.  To make matters worse, the school launched an aggressively offensive campaign trying to recruit students to transfer form other schools after the school year already started.  This type of brazen marketing strategy shows it's not really about the best interest of the City's kids, it's just about a money grab.  

The school bought the former Hawthorne Leadership Academy building which scandalously closed a week before the 2023 school The Hawthorne building was owned by a nonprofit associated with Washington University and the failed charter high school's billionaire founder. So despite the Opportunity Trust funneling Federal Tax Money to prop up this unnecessary charter school, it doesn't appear that it will likely make it through the school year.  Of course, the federal money, which went in large part to consultants in the charter school industry, will be gone with nothing to show for it.  We will not hold our breath for the local media to cover another example of waste, fraud and abuse in the St. Louis charter school world, as it remains hyperfocused on keeping the relentless  clickbait attacks of St. Louis Public Schools on repeat.

12/5/2023 - #SAVESLPS launches with a press conference & protest outside the Delmar Divine, which houses The Opportunity Trust and the "school choice" nonprofits they fund. The Delmar Divine, which was built with public tax incentives that siphon dollars away from SLPS is owned by multimillionaire Maxine Clark, co-founder and major donor to the Opportunity Trust. Parents, teachers, and community members were joined by representatives from AFT Local 420, Missouri Jobs with Justice, and the League of Women Voters in calling for NO NEW CHARTER SCHOOLS!

12/5/2023 - Riverfront Times: St. Louis Public School Supporters Protest Charter School Expansion

12/5/2023 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Too many schools? St. Louis public education supporters protest new charter high

12/5/2023 - YouTube KMOV St. Louis: Protest over expansion of charter schools in St. Louis

11/10/2023 - YouTube KMOV St. Louis: SLPS Board files lawsuit to stop charter school expansion

6/30/2023 - St. Louis charter school founders ‘double-dipped’ from public school tax dollars

6/29/23 - Kairos charter school's St. Louis expansion moves forward

4/20/2023 - Circuit court finds St. Louis charter schools can continue to receive desegregation funding

2/28/2022 - Kairos charter school in St. Louis under scrutiny for private management

2/07/2021 - Defunct St. Louis charter school founder gets a year in prison, must repay nearly $2.4M

9/21/2020 - St. Louis charter school sues former director for overpayments

8/26/2020 - St. Louis charter school founder admits inflating attendance

6/30/2020 - St. Louis charter schools under scrutiny for federal coronavirus relief funds and state audit

1/22/2019 - St. Louis College Prep Under Investigation For Fraud

8/15/2023 - An all-girls St. Louis charter school announces closure shortly before start of school

1/13/2023 - La Salle middle school in north St. Louis will close this year due to low test scores

12/07/2021 - University of Missouri loses sponsorship of three low-performing charter schools

10/21/2021 - Arch Community Charter Loses its Sponsor, Could Close

02/08/2021 - City schools in turmoil: District closes buildings, charters open

05/05/2020 - Carondelet Leadership Academy Charter School To Close

03/13/2019 - St. Louis College Prep charter school to close after attendance investigation