KAPS community rallies, trying to save school
“I don’t think I would have gotten the help I needed at any other school other than KAPS,” Katherine Anne Porter School graduate Austin Adams told the KAPS Board of Trustees on Monday night.
Adams was one of many KAPS students, teachers, parents and alumni who recited stories of how the school changed their lives. They were there together to face their fears that the school would soon be closing or at the minimum changing significantly enough that it would be unrecognizable to those in attendance. Without help, drastic changes are coming to KAPS soon due to financial instability, but those in the crowd were not ready to give in.
“This school has been a saving grace for so many in the community and surrounding communities as well,” Rochelle Nixon, a KAPS graduate said. “We could still change this. This is the point. We are all here as former students, alumni and parents. We are trying to change this outcome and make it a possibility for our children to have the same experience we did.”
Three board members, including long-time board president Ronnie Pinkerton, resigned from the board. Many of the speakers at the board meeting called for Pinkerton’s resignation, yet he remained hopeful for KAPS’ future, even as he stepped aside.
“This is an amazing event,” Pinkerton said. “I have not seen enthusiasm at KAPS like this in years if ever in my history. There is tough work, but I think you can do it.”
Pinkerton, along with Vice President Erika Koenig and Secretary Gary Woolfolk resigned with each stating their love for the school and their hopes that those in the crowd could save it.
The issue is one of finances. Katherine Anne Porter School has lost enrollment. The school had an enrollment of more than 160 in 2016 and stayed pretty steady until 2020 when enrollment dropped to a little more than 80. Enrollment has since fallen into the 70s. The state of Texas pays schools based on their average daily attendance, which means the low enrollment has lowered the revenue. For the 2021-22 school year, the budget was around $250,000 under water.
A presentation shown to the board of directors indicates that expenses will surpass revenues and cash on hand by August of this year.
The presentation presented three options, to “hold on” and raise money to try and increase enrollment, to shut down completely at the end of the school year or to merge with ResponsiveEd.
Plans for a potential merger of Katherine Anne Porter School with ResponsiveEd, one of the largest charter school operators in the nation, for a Premier High School were presented to the board last week. According to the Premier website, “Premier High School offers a mastery-based, blended-learning, college-preparatory program with an emphasis on credit recovery, credit acceleration, and career and technical education (CTE).”
The board postponed the decision on Monday night.
“We heard you,” Pinkerton, President of the KAPS board, said. “We thank you for your input. It is incredibly refreshing to see this kind of activation of the KAPS community, the community, staff, alumni and current students. We feel there is sufficient time to get together between the board and the community to look at strategies and solutions.”
The motion postponed the decision by 90 days for the board of directors to create a committee that can engage with the public on alternative options and to “look for possible solutions.”
Board Member Cynthia Millonzi will be heading up the committee and announced that a meeting would be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 3 at the Katherine Anne Porter School.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we won’t fail,” Millonzi said.
For more information on Katherine Anne Porter School, email board@kapschool.org.
