Pinnacle Charter School will remain open for this academic year as a Buffalo public school.The Buffalo Board of Education met Thursday afternoon in a special meeting to vote on the proposal, reportedly suggested by State Education Commissioner John King.
King ordered Pinnacle Charter to close last Friday, citing low test scores. More than 550 students and their parents were left scrambling less than two weeks before the start of classes.
A judge on Wednesday declined to rule on an injunction to block the closing, instead scheduling oral arguments for next Tuesday, one day before the start of the school year.
The Buffalo News reports Pinnacle's board voted today to pursue a proposal to annex Pinnacle to an existing district school. Buffalo Schools Superintendent Pamela Brown says Pinnacle will operate as an annexation of an existing school. Students would continue to attend the same Ash Street building.
"We would go through a process, in collaboration with Pinnacle and with the state to make sure that we're doing the staffing and making sure the children have access to curriculum materials and that all of the operational and instructional actions are being taken so that the year can get off to a good start," Brown said.
The school board unanimously supported staffing Pinnacle with district teachers for this academic year. The opening of classes may de delayed to accommodate the changes.
An emergency parents meeting will be held tonight at 6 p.m. at the school. Representatives from the State Education Department and from the Buffalo Public Schools District will present the plan to parents and answer questions.