BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — Buffalo Collegiate Charter School on Jewett Avenue is not only winding down for the school year, but it will also be shutting its doors for good next month.
Some parents reached out to 7 News saying without little warning, the school canceled classes Tuesday because of a lack of staff, with five staff members out for various reasons.
“We got notified that several staff members were going to be out,” remarked Brian Pawloski, head of school. “This is an unfortunate consequence of the time period that we are in."
“It is not a decision that we took lightly,” noted Sara Corona, academy director. “So we're stuck between kind of a rock and a hard place."
The school announced at the end of February it will be closing at the end of this school year but since then, nine staffers already left.
The school was up for charter renewal but fell behind in student performance after COVID.
Pawloski and Corona welcomed me inside the school to discuss the situation.
"We only have one year of testing prior to the pandemic, and so in years two, which is truncated from the pandemic in March of 2020, and then the subsequent year, which New York State did not really acknowledge state testing scores, and so our first year back to state tests were last year and over the course of the year," explained Pawloski. “And then ultimately, they decided, the SUNY Charter School Institute, that they were not going to recommend us for re-authorization. And then once we went through the initial appeal to their draft proposal, the board decided that they were not going to move forward with the appeals process."
The school currently houses 233 students in grades 4 through 8. School leaders also decided to hold only half-day instruction on Fridays with a 12:30 p.m. dismissal to give teachers and staffers who remain a chance to try and find new jobs.
“But on those Fridays, we also do offer 'aftercare' here and, so if a family needs like care for their children, we are still here to be able to provide that for them,” Corona commented.
“We still have staff who are looking for positions and while we have partnered with Buffalo Public Schools, and charter schools to be able to bring them into our community to interview, so we'd have as little disruption to learning as possible. There are still people who are looking out for the livelihoods for next year,” Pawloski explained.
The charter school was designed as a college prep school, especially for students from Buffalo's east and west sides and although it only was operated the last five years, leadership is proud to announce a number of 8th graders will be heading to new schools.
“And so we have a significant number of our students who are moving on to St. Joe's and Canisius, Buff Sem, Sacred Heart out of our eighth-grade class and then we have a good number of students who have also gotten the Bison Scholarship that will go into St. Mark’s, St. Peter's and Paul, Nativity Miguel — a lot of our students are going next year,” Pawloski noted.
Other students will be heading to Buffalo Public and charter schools next school year.
Buffalo Collegiate Charter closes permanently on June 22ND, one day after 8Th graders say goodbye to their Alma mater forever.
