Abbeville charter school closing

On Friday, parents of students who attend Excelsior College Preparatory Academy (formerly Williams Scholar Academy) received a letter from Rev. Allen R, Randle Sr. informing them that the charter school will be closing its doors this week.
The process to transfer some 70 students who attend Excelsior College Preparatory back into Abbeville and New Iberia schools began on Monday and will continue for a few days.
In Friday’s letter, Rev. Allen wrote, “Due to unfortunate circumstances beyond the control of the teachers, faculty, staff, and board members, Excelsior College Preparatory Academy will relinquish its charter effective Friday (Feb. 10) after appropriate board action. Rather than revoking the charter, we chose to relinquish it to avoid consequences.”
The Louisiana Department of Education had planned to strip the school of its charter had the school not given it up on Friday.
“Our oversight process worked to detect financial and academic concerns. As a result, their board has made the right decision to relinquish its charter in advance of our recommendation for revocation, said Ted Beasley, the executive director of public affairs from the Louisiana Department of Education.
The process to begin closing the school started on Monday. A meeting was scheduled to take place with the parents at 5 p.m.
Rev. Allen said the charter school will remain open and operating “until the last student is placed into another school.”
Superintendent Tommy Byler got word about the closing of the school on Friday. He began speaking with the state department of education officials about the timetable the public schools will start inheriting 25 students from Excelsior College Preparatory. Byler was expected to attend the meeting on Monday at the charter school to inform them of the process of transferring their children into the public school system.
He also met with the six seniors who were scheduled to graduate this May.
Excelsior is a charter school for grades 6th to 12 grade. It was located at the old LightHouse School, south of Abbeville. It had students from Iberia and Vermilion parishes.
BESE granted Excelsior its charter in 2020. After that, students attended the old Lighthouse School until a new school was built on Martin Luther King Drive, where the old Herod High School once stood.
The old Herod High School, which has been closed for more than 40 years, was torn down by Vermilion Shell and Limestone on Feb. 24, 2021. The original plan was to place a new two-story charter school, costing millions of dollars, on the grounds of the old Herod school.