Families left scrambling after 2 Philadelphia charter schools announce closure days before start of school
PHILADELPHIA - Families with students at two Philadelphia charter schools are now searching for new schools to enroll their children.
Parents with children enrolled at the Universal Bluford and Universal Daroff Charter Schools saw a post on Instagram that said the schools would not open for the first day of school set for Monday.
The Universal Daroff Charter School will close immediately, leaving families scrambling to find other schools for their children three days before the start of the school year. Another school, the Universal Bluford Charter School, will close at the e
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The Instagram post read, "This is an important message to let you know that the Daroff Charter School and Bluford Charter School will not be starting school for students on Monday, August 29, as previously planned. The start of the school year for both schools is delayed. children should not be dropped off at or should not be walking to these school locations during the week of August 29 to September 2. This is an evolving situation and more information will be provided in the coming days."
The post left parents baffled and scrambling to figure out what to do with their children, just days before they were set to send their children off.
The School District of Philadelphia held a special meeting Friday morning to address the confusion.
FOX 29's Shaynah Ferreira attended the meeting in which staffing, student safety and facility readiness emerged as key concerns for the two schools, resulting in the decision to close them.
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The School District of Philadelphia released a list of enrollment options for families now searching for a new school.
Officials say the Universal Daroff Charter School will close immediately and the Universal Bluford School will close at the end of the 2022- 2023 school year.
Parents of the displaced children can:
- Participate in the lottery system to enroll their student at Universal Bluford Charter School
- Enroll in a district school by working with the Office of Student Enrollment
- Enroll at another charter school if the facility has availability
The school district is also holding several enrollment sessions at the Haverford Library in West Philadelphia to help families quickly get their children enrolled.
Enrollment can also be done electronically and more information is available here.