Toledo charter schools score high and low

Three schools will close while others get excellent state ratings

Three Toledo charter schools that didn't make the grade are being shut down by the state. The schools did not meet new state standards when it comes to student test scores.

Those schools are Academy of Business and Technology on Parkwood Avenue, Englewood Peace Academy on Horace Street, and Paul Laurence Dunbar Academy on Warsaw Street.

Leaders at Dunbar Academy were surprised to learn the doors will close at the end of this school year.

The schools' failing grades put them in the academic emergency category. A new state law mandates that schools are shut down if they have failed several times in recent years.

Dunbar's regional vice president Laura Kuhlenbeck says, "It's very disappointing because the academy has been making great strides. We improved on our value-added performance, which shows we have more than one year of growth."

School leader Andre Fox told us, "We talked to the staff and they understand that this is out of our hands. I told them they have made good gains and I'm proud of them for that."

Dunbar leaders say they are working to see if there are any options.

Three other Toledo charter schools scored an excellent rating. One of them is the Autism Model School. It's a year-round school for students with autism spectrum disorders.

Director Mary Walters says, "We've been ranked excellent for four years and that doesn't happen to many schools. It's because of our great staff and wonderful training."

Along with the Autism Model School, the Toledo School for the Arts and Horizon Science Academy also scored excellent on the state report cards.

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