A revocation hearing slated to start this week was canceled after the troubled school agreed to surrender its charter.
The Vitalistic Therapeutic Charter School of the Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem.
The Bethlehem Area and Allentown school districts canceled the hearing scheduled Thursday night after the Vitalistic Therapeutic Charter School of the Lehigh Valley announced it would close Jan. 25, Bethlehem Superintendent Joseph Roy said today.
He said he could not estimate how much the districts spent to date in seeking the closure of the special-needs school, which moved from Fourth Avenue in West Bethlehem to Dewberry Avenue off Center Street in the city for this school year.
Roy said costs were estimated at $25,000 just to prepare and conduct the charter revocation hearing and possibly defend against an appeal by the school to the Pennsylvania Charter School Appeal Board.
"But we were also splitting that cost with Allentown," Roy noted.
Joyce Thompson, chairwoman of the charter school's board, announced last month the decision to close had been reached Oct. 19 "with profound sorrow." Jan. 25 marks the end of the first marking period for both sending school districts. Vitalistic officials blamed finances for the closing.
Bethlehem has about 10 students at the school and Allentown, about 100, Roy said. Bethlehem Area is making preparations to help its students transition back to the public schools if they choose to do so, he said.