Top Dayton charter school loses funding

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By Anthony Gottschlich, Staff Writer Updated 9:49 PM Tuesday, July 14, 2009

DAYTON — The state budget lawmakers passed Monday eliminates funding for the Dayton Early College Academy, a charter school that sends all of its graduates to college and is ranked excellent by the state.

“We are totally bummed,” DECA Principal Judy Hennessey said Tuesday, July 14.

Hennessey said DECA, which enrolled 284 students last year, will stay open for the next school year, but it will do so without $750,000 in state funding. The school’s annual budget is $3.5 million.

“We’re going to have to be very aggressive in finding other funding sources,” Hennessey said. “We just refuse to give up on this school. We’ve seen lives turn around, we’ve seen kids excel in college who never would have had an opportunity to get there.”

The budget eliminated funding for all nine of Ohio’s early college academies. The state had provided $12 million to the schools in the last two-year budget, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Sponsored by Dayton Public Schools and operated by the University of Dayton, DECA enrolls poor and at-risk students in grades seven through 12. All 26 of its graduates this year were accepted to college, an accomplishment for the third year in a row.

Hardly an agency, program or population was spared Monday when Ohio leaders agreed to $2.4 billion in budget cuts in the state’s $50.5 billion, two-year operating budget.

Thomas Lasley, dean of UD’s School of Education and Allied Professions, said he understands times are tough. Lawmakers found funding for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) schools and other new initiatives, he said, but not for proven programs like DECA?

“We haven’t come this far to close the school,” Lasley said. Hennessey said DECA also receives funding from private contributors, foundations and grants. She said 400 students are enrolled for this coming school year.

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