Chavez Huerta Preparatory Academy makes final pleas to District 60, hoping to keep doors open
Mackenzie Stafford
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – On Thursday, Chavez Huerta Preparatory Academy (CHPA) students, staff, parents and community members gathered outside of the Pueblo County Courthouse to kick off a demonstration. The group marched to the Pueblo School District 60 building, chanting “Let us go, so we can grow.”
The rally comes as the clock is ticking down to keep the charter’s doors open, with the school’s contract with the district set to expire at the end of June.
Participants urged District 60 to release Chavez Huerta Preparatory Academy from the district or to reauthorize their contract for another year, hoping to preserve a school deeply valued by its families.
“Many of us choose CHPA for so many reasons, for the diversity, early college, mariachi, folklórico,” listed parent Anna Casarez Herrera.
Casarez Herrera has three students at the different academy schools, and one more hoping to attend next year. She says she’s speaking out to try and make that a reality.
“We parents and students, we have made CHPA the school of choice. And don’t take that away from us,” Casarez Herrera said.
She says CHPA has always been home to their family; no matter where they move in the city, they have always had CHPA to go back to.
Chavez Huerta says they’ll be sending a formal request for reconsideration to the district on Thursday.
But the district says they already voted on this at the end of April, when the board decided in a 3 to 2 vote to reaffirm their decision not to renew the charter.
PAST COVERAGE: D60 votes against releasing Chavez Huerta Preparatory Academy to get charter status
But the board also won’t release them from the district, so the school can’t operate through any other organization right now.
Previously, district officials cited low enrollment and poor financial management as reasons for not renewing the school’s charter.
READ MORE: Chavez Huerta Prep faces uncertainty, explores options to keep doors open after charter not renewed
Chavez Huerta disputes those claims, but is offering ways to try to address some of those concerns, including implementing new budget and enrollment strategies.
On Thursday, academy families marched on, calling on the district to reconsider as options for CHPA dwindle.
If the district were to release CHPA, it could contract with an alternative education program or seek charter status with the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI). The only other solution without the district’s permission would be to become a private school.
“We’d struggle with that because again, we don’t want to charge our kids, our parents’ tuition,” explained Executive Director of CHPA, Fred Segura.
He says they’ll continue to investigate and see what they can do, but ultimately, if the academy’s pleas fall on deaf ears, the school will likely close.
“If we don’t get that authorization, we’re going to have to make some tough decisions as far as closure,” said Segura.
KRDO13 reached out to D60 about the rally held on Thursday and received the following statement from a district spokesperson:
“Following the State Board of Education’s decision to uphold D60’s non-renewal of the CHPA charter agreement, the school’s contract is set to expire at the end of June.
D60 is focused on supporting families through this transition, and we welcome families to explore all of their enrollment options. Several of our schools have welcome nights planned in the coming weeks that we encourage all families interested in those schools to attend.
Enrollment information can be found on our website at www.pueblod60.0rg or by calling 719-253-6014.”