Ohio
Ohio charter school announces abrupt shutdown due to ‘insurmountable financial’ woes
Crisis at Dohn Community High School: Financial troubles and staff layoffs
A chaotic start to the school year has left the parents, students and staff of a charter school in Cincinnati with more questions than answers.
After announcing it would be closing at the end of this school year, a struggling Cincinnati charter school will instead shut down next week.
The Dohn Community High School Board of Directors released a statement Friday, saying the school will close on Monday due to “insurmountable financial challenges stemming from the previous school year.”
The charter school serves mostly Black students who have behavioral problems, were expelled from other public schools or are otherwise on their last chance to get a high school diploma. The board agreed during an emergency meeting March 7 to sell its two buildings to Performance Academies, a Columbus-based charter school with a location in Mount Healthy, Dohn’s lawyer, Adam Brown, previously told The Enquirer. The idea was to use that money to cover the rest of the school year, before shuttering Dohn.
“Upon assuming leadership, the current administration took all measures to attempt to stabilize finances, restructure operations, and maintain the highest quality of education for our students,” Friday’s statement reads. “Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the financial burdens from the prior school year have proven too great to sustain operations.”
Interim Superintendent Bill Geraghty added in the release: “Despite our best efforts to overcome financial challenges, we have exhausted all viable options to keep the school open.”
School leadership is working to assist students and families in transitioning to new schools and to provide support for staff, the statement said. As for seniors who are set to graduate this spring, they will receive special attention to ensure they have opportunities to complete their education.
Further details regarding student placement and closure logistics will be shared in the coming days, according to the statement.
Dohn Community High School was founded in 2001 by local educator Kate Bower as a recovery-focused high school for students struggling with addiction, according to the statement. It was named after her sponsor, Blanche Dohn. “The school grew into a vital resource for the Cincinnati community,” and eventually began serving teen mothers, adult learners, and career and technical education students.