DETROIT — A high school for pregnant teens and teen-age parents in Detroit will remain open, but as a public charter school rather than a Detroit Public Schools operation, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Catherine Ferguson Academy will keep its name and location, but will become part of the Blanche Kelso Bruce Academy network, a charter school operation run by Detroit-based Evans Solutions, the Free Press reported.
Catherine Ferguson supporters had protested the planned closure and gained national publicity for weeks, according to the Free Press. In related news, two DPS alternative schools for students who have been expelled will be closed, and those students now will be transferred to one of the eight campuses in the Blanche Kelso Bruce network, the Free Press reported.
School officials said that G. Asenath Andrews will remain as principal of Catherine Ferguson Academy and will have more authority over the school budget and hiring once the school is a charter operation, the Free Press reported. DPS said it needed to close the schools because of expenses, according to the report.
SOURCE:
Detroit Free Press, “Protestors cheer final-hour reprieve
of Catherine Ferguson Academy for pregnant and parenting teens,” June 17, 2011
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, “Revenues and Spending
of Michigan’s Urban, Suburban, Town and Rural School Districts,” May 31, 2011
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