Despite recent closure, LEAF Charter School in Alstead plans for graduation
Published: 05-02-2024 10:52 AM |
A local charter high school that closed earlier this week still plans to issue diplomas and hold its graduation ceremony in June.
LEAF Charter School’s board of trustees voted in an emergency meeting April 23 to dissolve the school on Baine Way effective this past Tuesday, citing “diminishing enrollment and insurmountable financial difficulties,” according to meeting minutes.
Among concerns community members have voiced about LEAF’s shuttering before the end of the school year is how this would affect students set to graduate.
At a board of trustees meeting Tuesday, Chair Becky Snow said 15 students had met enough competencies for a 28-credit diploma issued by LEAF, with the possibility of up to three more.
She said LEAF’s administrative assistant Ellen Denny is now contracted with the state department of education to help finalize student transcripts.
“We will be graduating some students in June,” Snow said. “Ellen is working on the rest of the transcripts, getting everybody what they need so they can work on getting to wherever they’ll be going next.”
Thirty-three students are transferring to either another public charter school or their sending school districts, and 10 will be homeschooled, according to Snow.
In an email to the LEAF Charter School community on April 24, Snow announced the school would permanently close this past Monday. This letter, on behalf of the board, came one week after the school filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, documents in U.S. District Court in Concord show.
The school’s attorney, William Amann, filed a motion to dismiss the bankruptcy filing on Friday, stating the school lacks any assets that could be used to reimburse creditors. The board voted in favor of the dismissal at Tuesday’s meeting.
Snow said the current board inherited the financial troubles that ultimately forced the school to close.
“Some people might look at this and, well, yes, we owe Savings Bank of Walpole 180 [thousand] dollars, our credit line is maxed,” she said, “but it was maxed before the school year started. So we were paying interest only.”
According to a list of creditors Amann filed in court, the Savings Bank of Walpole holds the largest unsecured claim of a $180,000 loan, followed by the Department of Education, with grant fund reimbursements worth $55,524. The list, of 20 creditors with the largest claims, totals $329,243.
Snow said she and another board member went to the school Monday afternoon, where 53 students and seven teachers gathered to collect their belongings and say their goodbyes.
“It was a pretty emotional day,” she said. “They signed T-shirts, had a memory circle, and leaving here they all seemed in pretty good spirits despite the circumstances.”
She added that Will Gowen, LEAF’s director — who has not responded to multiple requests from The Sentinel for comment on the closure — was not there.
Two parents attended Tuesday’s meeting. One of them, Holly Rilling, has had three children go to LEAF, with her youngest graduating this year. The former board member shared her frustrations during the public comment period of the meeting about what she described as a lack of community support since the school opened in 2017.
“The parent involvement and the community involvement of this school has been nil,” Rilling said. “A lot of parents don’t understand that when you’re at a charter school, you have to be involved. ... Every charter school looks for time and dedication from the parents and community, and we did not have that here.”
The board, which will have its next public meeting on May 28, will continue working to finalize plans for a graduation ceremony as well as a prom for LEAF students.
“We will be issuing diplomas,” Snow said, “and we will do everything we can to give these kids these moments they’ve looked forward to all year long.”