MURRAY, Utah — A charter school faces an uncertain future because of serious financial issues and the school's board decided Wednesday to hold off on making a decision of whether or not to close the school and when that could happen.
The American International School of Utah is running out of money and according to AISU’s director, the school is unable to provide documentation for about $500,000 of public funding it received when the school first opened.
“Our history is a history of liabilities that is starting to come back,” said Tasi Young, the school’s director. “If we don’t have the documentation when they ask, they ask for that money back.”
The unexpected bill means the school may not be able to fulfill its financial obligations going forward.
Wednesday, parents, students and teachers packed into the school’s auditorium for a school board meeting where the fate of the school was set to be decided.
“We will fight and see what we can do,” said Erin Phoenix, a mother of an AISU student. “We’re shocked. We’re sad. We don’t want to leave.”
A teacher believes students will suffer if the school is forced to close.
“What we do here is not available elsewhere in the valley,” said Jessica Benson who teaches Grades 1-3. “It’s a huge loss for the state of Utah.”
The five-member voting board decided the school will remain open through the end of this school year.
The prospect of the school keeping its doors open beyond June 2019 does not look promising.
