Faith Christian Center to become government-funded charter school
EL PASO, Texas (CBS4) — After nearly 40 years the private parochial school—Faith Christian Academy—is becoming a government-funded charter school.
This is big for the faith-based school because the government says charter schools can't give religious instruction.
Parents told CBS4 they just got word of the news toward the end of last week, feeling like it came out of the blue.
The school says it’s trying to give students more opportunities.
"I mean it's definitely something that you don't expect,” said Diana Ramirez. "I’m going to go ahead and just trust them."
A lot of parents are anticipating what is coming next.
"For us, we didn't like it too much,” said Jorge Gonzalez.
Faith Christian Academy has not given a lot of details on why this change is happening, other than saying in a press release that it's looking forward to working with an established charter school company to give a "first class educational opportunity for students."
"My daughter, she decided she's not going to come here anymore because things are going to change,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said he and his wife are already making plans to pull their 11th-grader out, but still have not decided about what they will do with their younger child.
"We don't need to decide anything yet,” he said.
And as parents learn more about the process of the switch, Ramirez does have concerns.
"The STAAR test is definitely a new concern for us,” she said. “My child will be a third-grader, so it'll be the first time taking the STAAR test."
Many said they enrolled their kids in Faith Christian Academy for the faith-based curriculum, and to give their kids a shot at the best education.
"I’m going to start reading, and I’m going to get more information,” said Gonzalez.
Now as the school gives out information, both Gonzalez and Ramirez said they're hoping this change is for the best, and plan on being positive.
"I guess when life comes at you, you just have to either go with it, or just change your perspective,” said Ramirez.
It's still not clear whether this switch from a private school to a charter school will impact teachers.
CBS4 tried speaking to the school's spokesperson to get more details on what's to come, but never heard back on Monday before this story aired.
