EDUCATION

Detroit's University Yes charter drops high school

Ann Zaniewski
Detroit Free Press Education Writer

Aleka Simmons, 17, was excited about her senior year at University Yes Academy until this week, when she found out that the Detroit charter school is going to close its high school.

Now, two weeks before the start of the school year, she and other students are scrambling to find new places to learn.

"I'm just mad because they really put us in a tough position," she said. "It's our senior year. We're supposed to have fun and stuff, and now we're stressing about where we're going to go. I've been with the same friends since seventh grade."

► Related:  One of Detroit's largest charter schools to close

Ralph Bland, CEO of New Paradigm for Education, a charter management company that runs University Yes, told parents and senior students at a meeting Monday that efforts to find a new building had been unsuccessful, Aleka's mother, Caprice Simmons, told the Free Press. Simmons said the current building has become increasingly crowded in recent years as University Yes added grades.

"There were some space issues," Bland told the Free Press. "To properly educate students, spacing has to be right." New Paradigm has been managing the school since mid-July.

The closure will impact more than 300 students.

Related:GOP pushes Ideological affirmative action for charter schools

Bland did not directly answer questions about the timing of the announcement. He stressed that officials will help students find new schools.

University Yes opened in 2010 with only sixth grade, said Bill DiSessa, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education. By 2015-16, it had grown to be a K-11 school with 911 students. Twelfth grade was supposed to be added this year.

Caprice Simmons said University Yes had so many students last year that some teachers were sharing rooms or holding classes in the gymnasium or auditorium.

"That building was definitely not big enough to hold K-12," she said. "But we should have known long before two weeks before school starting."

Officials at Bay Mills Community College, which authorizes University Yes, said they agreed with the decision. They did not answer specific questions about the closure.

"Our staff has discussed this matter in detail with members of the Board of UYA, as well as representatives of the school's new educational services provider, New Paradigm," Mariah Wanic, the college's special assistant to the president in charge of charter schools, said in a statement. "As a result of those discussions, in addition to its own assessment of the administration and educational programming at UYA, BMCC concurred in the decision."

Bland said school officials will not only help with new school placements but also check in periodically with seniors.

"We are going to make sure we follow the seniors throughout this entire school year until they get accepted to college," he said.

Enroll Detroit, a free service that helps families find school placements, can also help at 888-308-1534.

This is not the first time a Detroit charter school's sudden closure has created confusion for families. In October 2013, the Aisha Shule/WEB DuBois Preparatory Academy closed its doors six weeks into the school year after receiving notice that its charter was going to be revoked because of financial and academic problems.

In June, officials announced that the Allen Academy, a school roiled by concerns about its finances and academic performance, was closing down.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, said University Yes students deserved better.

"The timing is terribly unfortunate and should never happen like this now or ever," he said in an e-mailed statement. "Informing students and parents just two weeks before the start of classes that their school is closing is something that is totally unacceptable."

New Paradigm took over management of University Yes Academy following a rocky year that saw the school thrust into the spotlight when a National Labor Relations Board complaint was filed against its former management company, New Urban Learning. The NLRB alleged that the company created an alter-ego management company to avoid having to bargain with teachers, who voted in 2015 to form a union.

Test high school

Contact Ann Zaniewski: 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @AnnZaniewski.