A charter school in Philadelphia has decided to shut down and end a three-year legal fight to remain open.
Truebright Science Academy Charter School, which opened in 2007 with a five-year charter, has been pursuing legal remedies to stay open since 2012, when the Philadelphia School Reform Commission denied its request for a charter renewal because of poor academic performance.
But after a court decided last week that it would not reconsider an earlier ruling that rejected Truebright's appeal of its charter renewal, Truebright leaders announced they would drop further appeals.
"Truebright's board of directors has determined that it is in the best interests of Truebright's students and the community as a whole to forgo its right to appeal," school leaders said in a news release. The board instructed school administrators to "take all necessary steps to achieve dissolution."
Truebright had been home to more than 300 students in grades seven through 12. While Truebright officials were still fighting to stay open, they argued that the decision to deny a renewal of its charter was based on flawed comparisons to schools that serve elementary students.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Truebright was one of more than 100 charter schools across the nation operated by followers of Fethullah Gülen, a Turk who lives in self-imposed exile in the Pocono Mountains.
