Monroe charter school abruptly closes after alleged issues with legal documents

MONROE, N.C ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — A Monroe charter school has announced an abrupt closure, reportedly due to issues with legal documents for the building they used as their campus.

The closure of Apprentice Academy High School at the end of August came as a complete surprise to many parents, who learned about it on Saturday.

“You literally sent us an email on Saturday night of a holiday weekend, and said, ‘Find some place for your kids to go.’ That’s crazy,” said mother Nicole Jordan, who has two children that attend the school.

Jordan noted things started to seem unusual after an email Thursday evening, indicating that there would be no classes the following day. School officials indicated there was an emergency meeting on Saturday where the school surrendered its charter and announced a closure.

It’s an end to a school that Jordan saw as valuable to her children.

“We found it was a perfect fit,” she said.

Other parents, however, like Fred Figueroa, said they noticed issues.

“I thought the lack of certain core courses that I think were essential for our kids were not there,” he said.

School started last week at Apprentice Academy. The school’s location had shifted over the last several years.

In numerous emails between the school’s board chair and Queen City News regarding the closure, he said the site along Old Charlotte Highway was used previously as a temporary location for the school in 2019, and a certificate of occupancy was applied for and received at that time.

Within months, the board chair, John Jedra, said the school was able to move to a location along Weddington Road in Matthews, but noted issues with a developer at that location that resulted in what he termed a “legal battle.” Another charter school ultimately took over that Weddington Road site, he said.

Jedra added that the school ultimately returned to the Old Charlotte Highway site, behind Open Book Baptist Church, in June 2024 in preparation for the 2024-25 school year.

“A certificate of occupancy was not identified as needed by the school administration, the architect, or construction companies,” Jedra wrote in an email to Queen City News. “In good faith, Apprentice Academy believed their previous certificate of occupancy was still valid because no expiration date was identified on the original documents, nor did the City of Monroe ever indicate that a new certificate was required. Lastly, the school’s architect initiated the permitting process with the City of Monroe permitting office in April 2024 and has occupied the space since July 2024.”

Jedra added an anonymous tip led the City of Monroe Fire Marshal to the Old Charlotte Highway location last week, which eventually led to the closure.

The school has posted detailed timelines and explanations on its website.

When asked about the possibility of getting a new certificate of occupancy, Jedra noted it would take weeks.

“There was a cost for submitting for the certificate of occupancy; however, that was negligible compared to the cost of not being able to have school in session for several weeks and impacting the students learning,” he explained. “Our charter is for a hybrid learning environment and we would have needed to apply to the state for a modification to our charter to switch to online learning only, which was another lengthy process.”

The school also noted on its website that declining enrollment and financial issues with the charter school also contributed to the decision to close.

“It was a surprise that they did it so quick, but it doesn’t surprise that it would happen,” said Figueroa.

For Jordan, the school’s closure comes at an inopportune time, especially after the start of the school year, locally. She believes this is something Apprentice Academy should have known about.

“It should’ve been handled over the summer when people had time,” said Jordan.  “This is wrong on so many levels.”

Queen City News reached out to the city’s Fire Marshal’s office for comment but had not received a response by Monday’s deadline.

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