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Beyond the Books: 2 Utah charter schools could close by year's end


The Utah State Charter School Board voted Thursday morning to begin the process of closing two financially troubled charter schools. (Photo: KUTV FILE)
The Utah State Charter School Board voted Thursday morning to begin the process of closing two financially troubled charter schools. (Photo: KUTV FILE)
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The Utah State Charter School Board voted Thursday morning to begin the process of closing two financially troubled charter schools.

St. George Academy in Washington County and Capstone Classical Academy in Pleasant View are now on a watch list and have 14 days to ask for a meeting to appeal the charter school board’s decision.

Both schools are less than two years old. Capstone said they planned on having 500 students enrolled by this year, but the school struggled to recruit students and, as of Thursday, only had 177 students signed up.

The school gets money from the state for each student enrolled. The lack of bodies in the school means the state charter school board fears the school could be as much as $450,000 in the hole by the end of the year.

If the schools fail to convince the charter school board to allow them to stay open, they will be the second and third charter schools to be closed in the past two years.

Last school year, the board of the American International School of Utah voted to shut down after it was found the school may have misspent special education money from the state and federal government. The school owed the two entities nearly $5,000,000, and felt they would never be able to pay off the debt.

Since the school closed, the school and its board members have been sued by the state.

As for Capstone Classical Academy and St. George Academy, if they do close down, their students will have to find other schools to attend. If the schools appeal the decision, the charter school board will have 30 days to schedule another hearing and listen to the appeal from the schools.

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