Fannin’s chapter of Mountain Education, commonly known as the night school or Mountain Education Charter High School, is set to close in December.
Fannin County School Superintendent Shannon Dillard said Friday she had been told by Mountain Education officials they had made an “economic decision.”
Dillard said the county school board had worked with Mountain Education (ME) to try to keep the facility open when fears arose earlier of an economic problem.
When the board renewed the agreement with ME in July, board members agreed to let ME use facilities at Fannin County High School at not cost as a means of supporting the program, Dillard said. The school had used the middle school previously.
During the July board meeting, Dillard said, ‘‘Since we’ve started the Impact Center, we have decreased sending students to the program of Mountain Ed.”
Dillard said when she was told by ME officials of the decision to close the Fannin campus, a legislative change resulting in the modification of MECHS as a school to a program was noted.
The News Observer was unable to obtain comment from someone with ME as of press time despite repeated attempts to reach them.
The mission statement on the website of MECHS is “to provide a second chance opportunity to students across North Georgia to earn an accredited high school diploma in a student-centered, self-paced, evening public high school.”
They currently have 20 campuses across North Georgia with 353 graduates in the last school year and have graduated 6,500 students since 1993, according to the website.