Budget Problems Close Ulysses Charter School

Lower state aid for schools has led a southwest Kansas district to close a charter school that had operated for three years.

Ulysses Career Learning Academy will close at the end of the current school year. School superintendent Bill Hall says his district will lose about $500,000 in state revenue for the next school year, prompting the decision to close.

Ulysses academy is a high school charter school that emphasizes career choices and vocational skills. It had 26 students this year. They will go to the general school population next year.

The district’s board of education voted unanimously Monday night to close the charter school.

The academy was funded with a $155,000 federal grant for two years, with the district taking over funding this year.