City cracks down on charter school

Posted at: 10/31/2009 8:44 AM | Updated at: 10/31/2009 8:53 AM
By: Eyewitness News 4

The Academy of Trades and Technology

A charter school some Albuquerque residents want out of their neighborhood was ordered by the city to shape up or ship out.

City officials met with the Academy of Trades and Technology on Friday. The city decided to put the school on probation for three months. Plus, the school will have to close the campus to the neighborhood, hire security and even create a dress code for students and staff.

As we reported, the people in the neighborhood around Yale and Gibson want the school closed, saying the students are out of hand, terrorizing and vandalizing their neighborhood. In one case, a fight ended in gunfire.

School official Henry Lackey said they will comply with the new rules, but feel the school is being picked on.

“I don't know what this is about, but the bottom line is that--grow up! We need to teach kids,” he said.

Lackey, the governing council president, said it is the students being harmed in the dispute.

“If you have some type of vendetta against one of my staff or my principal or me, tell me,” he said.

The school teaches at-risk students vocational skills to get them ready for the workforce. Students range in age from 14 to 21.

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