Boys-only Chatham County charter school loses its appeal and must close by Dec. 31
The State Board of Education has rejected requests to allow a boys-only Chatham County charter school to remain open and for a new charter school to open in Wake County.
The Charter Schools Review Board in October revoked the charter for the School of the Arts for Boys Academy (SABA) in Pittsboro and rejected the application for Heritage Collegiate Leadership Academy-Wake County (HCLA-Wake).
On Thursday, the state board unanimously rejected the appeals both schools had filed over the Review Board’s decisions.
Barring legal action, SABA will have to close by Dec. 31. State education leaders cited lack of enrollment and financial concerns for closing the new school. SABA is one of the few public schools in the state that only serves male students.
“The three of us that were hearing it were mindful that this was a very special population of children that the school was trying to serve,” said state board member Jill Camnitz, a member of the appeals panel. “I don’t think any of us had any real concerns about what was being offered to the students and the families.
“However, we couldn’t overcome the problems of financial and enrollment.”
In August, state lawmakers transferred the state board’s power to approve and revoke charters to the newly renamed Review Board. The state board was relegated to hearing appeals of decisions by the Review Board.
Boys-only charter school
SABA was originally scheduled to open in 2022 but got a one-year delay.
On Aug. 10, the State Office of Charter Schools sent SABA a letter warning that it had less than the minimum number of 80 students required for charter schools under state law.
SABA was given the options of either giving up the charter, pushing back the opening to later in the school year to try to get more students or requesting another one-year delay.
John Blackburn, a state board member who heard the appeals, said SABA agreed to abide by rules such as the 80-student minimum when it signed its charter school agreement with the state in July.
SABA opened on Aug. 28 with 49 students instead of the 116 students it had initially gotten state funds for this school year.
The state Department of Public Instruction put SABA on financial and governance non-compliance status. DPI says the school has already spent 51% of the state money it would be expected to get based on its lower enrollment.
SABA launched a fundraising campaign to try to assure the state that it could stay open through the end of the school year.
Wake County charter school rejected
Heritage Collegiate had sought to open in northeastern Raleigh in 2025.
Kashi Bazemore, the chair of Heritage’s board, has cited the Wake County schools with D and F state performance grades to argue that Heritage Collegiate was needed.
But HCLA-Wake was dinged due to its ties to the failed Heritage Collegiate Leadership Academy in Bertie County. Bazemore was the director of the Bertie County school.
The State Board of Education had cited academic and non-compliance issues when it attempted to close the Bertie County charter school before transferring the charter in 2018 to another organization. The state board later revoked the charter from the new group.
Bazemore had told state leaders that she had learned her lessons from the Bertie County school. But both the Review Board and the state board appeals panel were not convinced.
“It is the obligation of the Charter Review Board and the State Board of Education to ensure that approved charter schools have a significant likelihood of successfully operating and educating students,” Blackburn said “The panel cannot conclude that the proposed HCLA-Wake has a likelihood of success.”
Bazemore has said she’ll appeal the decision to the state Office of Administration Hearings.
