SAIL Charter School Will Remain Open Until June 24

For Immediate Release: 
Contact: Audrey Williams 301-351-6259
[email protected]

Washington, D.C. — The D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB) recently accepted the School for Arts In Learning (SAIL) Public Charter School’s request to relinquish its charter.  The school recently announced that it did not have the financial resources to effectively sustain its operations and would be forced to close on June 15th – eight days short of the full school year.  After meeting with officials at the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), the PCSB committed today to making funds available to enable the school to remain open until June 24, 2011 – the official end of the school year.   

The DME, OSSE and PCSB’s leadership were particularly concerned about the premature closure of SAIL because of the school’s high percentage of students with special needs.  “The PCSB worked closely with the city’s leadership to ensure that SAIL’s students were able to complete the school year,” said Jeremy Williams, PCSB interim executive director.  

About 60 percent of the SAIL’s student population has special needs.  SAIL is one of the few open enrollment public schools that caters to students with special needs. The school currently has 140 students in grades K-8th.  

As part of the normal school closure process, the PCSB will host a community forum and enrollment fair at SAIL’s campus at 1100 16th Street, NW, on Thursday, June 16th, from 4pm until 8pm. During this event, parents and students will have an opportunity to ask questions of PCSB leadership about the closure process and speak with a number of charter schools and DCPS representatives that will be invited specifically to meet SAIL families.

SAIL is one of the 52 public charter schools that the D.C. Public Charter School Board currently oversees.   Public charter schools now serve approximately 39% of all public school students in Washington, D.C.  Learn more about PCSB at www.dcpubliccharter.com

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